How to Build a [Good] Corporate Lobbyist

Straining to make out the words on the other end of the line, it wasn’t just the din of the bachelor party which was now in full swing that was getting in the way. The caller, Ved Nanda, the renowned International Law professor had a notoriously heavy Indian accent. There was an important job for the recent DU law grad but it would mean leaving everything behind.

The year was 1981 and although Lyle Williamson still wasn’t convinced he wanted to be a lawyer he had always had a keen interest in government. Little did he know, the road he was on would lead to a career in one of the most misunderstood and yet integral parts of the democratic process, a corporate lobbyist.

It’s hard to imagine that anyone would actually choose to become a lobbyist for a large corporation. Gallup's 2012 poll of the public's views of professional honesty and ethics rate lobbyists as having the second to worst, lower than car salesmen or telemarketers and only slightly better than members of Congress. 

Despite the prevailing perception of their profession, many lobbyists work in the public interest, regardless of whether they advocate for big business or for social issues. More generally, they help many Americans exercise their constitutional right outlined in the First Amendment to "petition the government." 

Political scientists have long recognized the legitimate uses of lobbying in a democracy. Lobbying, as an accepted and legal process, allows the voice of citizen groups, associations, labor unions, corporations and others to be heard in the political arena.

Lobbyists also play an important role in breaking down complicated issues and presenting the most pertinent information to legislators, staff members or committees in short documents or in quick one-on-one exchanges. This exchange of ideas and positions inform the extensive research and evidence that is required for good legislation. As the issues addressed by lawmakers increase in complexity, lawmakers must increasingly rely on corporate and industry lobbyists for information.

Tom Dixon of the Office of Consumer Counsel at the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA), explains the role of lobbyists like this:

“First of all, lobbyists are advocates; they have a position. They’re not there to come up with a general broad discussion of [an issue], and they have a position to take on [either] pending legislation or they may be involved in drafting legislation for legislators to act upon.

“State and Federal legislators don’t have the knowledge of every single piece of legislation that might appear in front of them so lobbyists attempt to advocate and educate. Recognizing their roles to advocate for a particular position, the education they provide is also going to be for that purpose and, realistically, the quality of the lobbyist and the value of the lobbyist [lies in] the lobbyist’s integrity and honesty.”

The Spark

Lyle Williamson didn’t set out to become a lobbyist. Growing up in Cleveland in the politically charged Vietnam era, Williamson’s interest in government was peaked in high school. Ten years his elder, his sister Daph and her husband were involved in a church-related project to address issues of racial integration. Williamson was recruited to interview recent home buyers to determine the extent of racial steering.

“It was surprising and enlightening – well, maybe not so surprising – I don’t remember the final outcome but clearly some people wanted to be away from black people and that was part of their mission in moving to that community. So, I was involved for a couple of months – not a political campaign but a very volatile political issue.”

It was this experience that inspired a strong interest in social justice issues and, in particular, the legislative process. Williamson chose to pursue undergraduate studies at the University of Colorado. At the time, Boulder proved to be a hotbed of political activism although Williamson readily admits it was his love for snow skiing that was the “primary driving force” behind his choice of schools. As a student, Williamson volunteered for Gary Hart’s race for the US Senate in 1974.

To Williamson, Hart was “a bright star in the Democratic Party… so, being around him was a bit of an inspiring thing. He and [US Senator] Sam Nunn were among the two Democrats who weren’t just anti-war or anti-military; they were there to make things better and I was impressed with that.”

After graduation, Williamson found himself unsure of his next step but knew he wasn’t ready for work. Today, he admires the unwavering determination of his only child, Casey, to become a doctor. 

“Casey’s been so driven on what he wants to do since high school that I think, ‘Well, you’re going to change your mind. You can’t really stay on this route’ but, he is.” He quickly adds, 

“He sure didn’t get that from me.”

Williamson’s calm humility and disarming honesty are quite evident. The antithesis of a hard-boiled attorney, Williamson easily laughs at his early nonchalance with regard to applying to law school.

“A lot of it was I wasn’t sure what else to do. Honestly. So, I suppose if I hadn’t gotten into law school I’d have probably looked into some graduate program. I wasn’t ready to go to work and I wasn’t a business guy ever. I got in at Case Western Reserve (Cleveland) and at DU law but I didn’t get in to CU’s law school. I never aspired to be an attorney. I liked politics so I kind of thought the education would be good.”

The decision to attend the University of Denver Law School proved to be fortuitous for Williamson. It’s there he met Claire Weigand, Williamson’s future and current wife of 28 years.  Claire was also a law student at DU and they shared an interest in fine wine, social justice and international law. When the time came to take the bar exam Claire passed but Lyle did not. Given the chance to gracefully exit from the conversation with his ego intact, Williamson instead pokes fun at himself.

“Well, no.” he responded quickly to the suggestion that most candidates for the bar fail the first time around. “Our class had a pretty high pass rate that year to tell you the truth. You can look that up.” The self-deprecating chuckle that accompanies his last statement is sincerely delightful.

“So, all my other friends passed it - Claire passed it – but I didn’t think a minute about taking it again. I didn’t really care so, what shall I do?”

The year was 1980 and Gary Hart was seeking a second term as US Senator for the State of Colorado. Williamson was hired by the campaign and solidified the relationships that would last to this day. 

“I have an amazing core of friends I made during that campaign all those years ago. We’re still close friends. We have helped each other get positions – helped our kids get positions – it’s just one of those courtesy things you do with people. Going through a campaign like that or any kind of race like that, it’s not for the money.”

Claire added, “It’s amazing how many people work on campaign, after campaign, after campaign.”

The race ended with Hart narrowly winning re-election to the Senate and Williamson was again out of a job and looking for work. A neighbor was a construction foreman and out of desperation the slightly built Williamson took a job on a downtown high rise.

 “I started that job – almost killed myself hauling wheel barrows of concrete around – but then we went on strike a couple of weeks after I started. I really was struggling with what to do when Ved called with this job so I said, ‘Of course, I’ll try.’ So, it worked out pretty well, I guess. I made it.”

Palau

It’s not often that a job offer starts with the words “We have this island we want to send you to” but that was exactly the offer made by Professor Nanda over the phone as Williamson played host at a buddy’s bachelor party. 

The Palau island chain consists of about 200 islands located in the western Pacific Ocean and lies 528 miles southeast of the Philippines. Seized by the United States from Japan during World War II, Palau became a UN trusteeship administered by the US in 1947.

By 1981 Palau had become the Republic of Palau, an independent state with a constitutional government modeled on the United States. Williamson arrived on the island shortly after the constitution was signed. The newly formed government sought out the assistance of American attorneys to advise them and to help draft legislation.

“My thought was they offered a two-year contract, round trip airfare, housing. It wasn’t a lot of money but certainly more than I was making at the time.” 

Lyle persuaded Claire to come with him. They weren’t sure what to expect but it seemed like a good idea at the time. 

Williamson remembers sitting down with his boss, the Speaker of the House, on his first day there.

“While I’m sitting there I told him my girlfriend is going to come over and he said, ‘What does she do?’ I told him she was a lawyer and he said she should work so he calls the Palauan guy who was the head of the High Court of the Trusteeship and tells him, ‘I have your law clerk coming.’

So, that’s how we got there.”

The small island nation of 13,000 people was beautiful… and primitive. 

Claire explains, “There was no real health care or electricity. I mean, it was off and on, no running water except for 6:00 to 9:00 in the morning and it wasn’t really potable – you couldn’t drink it.”

Lyle adds, “Here we are 1947 to 1990, for 25 years the US had been administering these island and there was no water system or sewer system. People were still using outhouses. We could have done better.”

The work the couple did on the island was invaluable both in terms of contributing to the formation of the legislative and judicial branches of the government and in terms of cutting their legal teeth in the process.

Acting as a laboratory, the small island country was quite progressive in its lawmaking. Their constitution prohibited firearms on the island and just the possession of a firearm carried a mandatory ten year prison term. 

They were also trying to redefine international waters which were customarily 3-5 miles along the coast. Palau wanted to manage 200 miles and wanted no nuclear vessels passing through – in the Constitution they had they called it ‘no nukes.’ 

Williamson spent his time working with the legislators to draft bills or write resolutions that would become law in the newly formed nation. Sometimes, he was also asked to write letters.

“One of my favorite Senators who was the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee would get angry at the US for something they would say or not say or not be responsive. He would say, “Lyle, write me a letter to the Ambassador of the, then, Soviet Union so we can enter negotiations with them.” So, I would have to write that for him, he was my boss, it was my job. It was kind of weird being an American. At the time, you didn’t know what would come out of it. The US could have cut us off at any time.

“It was a really fascinating time to be there. The way it was good for me, aside from being my first job, was the cultural experience. There were no more than 20 Americans on the island and maybe a dozen lawyer-types. There were Peace Corp there, too, but they had to live with local families. As government employees, we had a house and everyone would come stay with us – we were all about the same age. The isolation was tough.”

The Williamsons described the communication challenges while on the island. There were no TVs and no phones. Three days a week a Continental jet would come in from Guam and bring a thin newspaper with international and US news and one to two pages of sports. Four days a week, they couldn’t leave the island if they wanted to. After two and half years, Lyle and Claire were in their mid-twenties and it was time to get back in the real world and try to make a career.

Back in the USA

Claire remembers well the transition back to the United States.

“The transition coming back [from Palau] was weirder than going there. I’ll never forget how weird the supermarkets looked here.  I remember wandering down this whole aisle of just pet food. There were more choices in pet food here than anything you could buy [in Palau] to eat. The excess of choice seemed so unbelievable.

In Palau, there were no fresh vegetables, no lettuce or tomatoes, no fresh dairy – we only had canned milk because there was no refrigeration.”

Lyle remembers coming back to see MTV for the first time, “Oh my god – we sat in front of the TV for days watching music videos.”

The couple initially moved back to Colorado to be near family and were married within a couple of months. Afterward, they decided to take their newly acquired governmental experience to Washington DC.

Claire found a clerking job right away with the Department of Education but Lyle didn’t find anything for over a year.  He spent his time writing letters to congressional committees, non-governmental organizations and human rights groups trying to figure out what to do. Finally, he landed a position as instructor with the Close Up Foundation, a program that brings high school students to Washington DC for one week at the time to learn about government.

It was 1986 when the couple made the decision to move back to Colorado to buy a house and start a family. Lyle would move out first to get established while Claire kept her job in DC. Lyle started by making calls to a few of the friends he made while working on the Hart campaign. Hart was considering a second bid for the presidency and Tim Wirth’s Senate campaign was hiring.

As he prepared to accept the staff position on the Wirth campaign, another of Williamson’s friends from the 1980 race called with an opening for a lobbyist position in Denver with telecommunications company MCI. Within a week after starting his job with the Wirth campaign, MCI called and made an offer.

To this day, Williamson throws his hands up in exasperation, “Arrgh! So, I went the campaign people and said, ‘Well, this [job with MCI] is what I need, because I can bring Claire here, it’s a real job, and it’s the type of job you hope to get after this campaign is over so, I have to take it now.’ They were all really great about it.”

A Lobbyist is Born

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, the term “lobbying” originates from the early practice of attempting to influence legislators in the lobby outside of the legislative chambers before a vote. The function of any lobbyist or lobbying campaign is basically the same: Advocate, Educate, and Participate.

Today, MCI is now Verizon and Williamson has been a lobbyist at the State level for the company for more than 25 years. 

The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States preserves the State’s right to regulate industry. It is Williamson’s job to influence and educate lawmakers as far as how the State laws should accommodate the new players in the phone business and, at the same time, changing the rules for the big monopolies. 

 “The industry has advanced enough and there’s pretty strong consensus between the cable companies and the wireless phone companies. The wire line companies like Century Link are probably most frustrated by lingering regulation, I would say, to give them some credit.”

When asked about the public’s perception of corporate lobbyists, Williamson takes the high road.

“How consumers are protected is a big deal and we are all saying, ‘Here’s how we think they’re best protected.’ The Public Utility Commission or the State’s consumer advocate would have a different view about how they think consumers are protected. My job is to present a progressive piece of legislation that satisfies the industry needs somewhat and keeps the regulators in the game, too.”

Tom Dixon of DORA worked with Williamson for 15 years prior to retiring from Verizon in 2011. Now, as a member of the Office of Consumer Counsel, he has a balanced view of the process.

“Lyle is an effective advocate for a couple of reasons – one is, he knows the material. He gets himself well up to speed and he’s familiar with the position he as an advocate needs to take. He’s been doing this for years and the thing he has that makes him effective is, as I said, he has good integrity and honesty and people believe him. When it comes to legislators, he answers questions, if they want information he goes and gets it and gets back to them. That’s why. That’s why he’s been doing it for so long; he’s effective and he likes it.

Williamson looks at it this way:

“My earlier work – all of it prepared me better for what I do now – the work in Palau, I did a lot of drafting and I did a lot writing that used my legal background and still does – the education helped me in terms of analyzing and writing. I get help – Verizon’s a big boy company – but I can also critique what they’ve given me and that helps me.