For Immediate Release: June 21, 2023
Contact: Nancy Jackson (213) 978-1960
Entities registered to lobby City agencies reported receiving payments totaling over $16.5 million in the first quarter of 2023, according to a summary on today’s Ethics Commission agenda. Reports filed by lobbying entities disclosed that clients paid a total of $16,525,494 to lobby the City during the first quarter, marking an 11-percent decrease in payments compared to the fourth quarter of 2022.
Of the 1,869 clients registered for the first quarter, the ten who made the largest aggregated payments for lobbying services are listed in the Top 10 Highest Paying Clients table to the right. Payments from these clients totaled $2,208,022 and represented 13 percent of all payments by lobbying clients for the quarter.
The ten lobbying firms receiving the most client payments in the first quarter of 2023 are listed in the Top 10 Highest Paid Lobbying Firms table below. Together, these lobbying firms received a total of $6,276,778, representing 38 percent of all client payments received in the first quarter.
Of the 813 first-quarter lobbying entities, 13 also reported fundraising activity totaling $65,546 for City campaigns, officeholders, and committees. The graph at the top of the next section below shows fundraising and contribution activity reported since 2021.
| Top 10 Highest Paying Clients | Total Payments Made in Q1 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | BARDAS Investment Group | $344,353 |
| 2 | Englander Knabe & Allen* | $318,506 |
| 3 | Chick-Fil-A | $288,478 |
| 4 | MR Real Estate | $238,392 |
| 5 | Hackman Capital Partners / Radford Studio Center, LLC / Television City Studio, LLC** | $215,819 |
| 6 | Carmel Partners | $175,507 |
| 7 | San Antonio Winery dba Riboli Family Wine Estates and its affiliate S&R Partners | $172,300 |
| 8 | Sportsmen's Lodge Owner, LLC | $168,768 |
| 9 | LaTerra Development LLC | $166,700 |
| 10 | Clear Channel Outdoor | $119,200 |
*This client made payments to lobbying firms on behalf of other clients, and those payments were aggregated to calculate the payment amounts.
| Top 10 Highest Paid Lobbying Firms | Total Payments Received in Q1 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Englander Knabe and Allen | $1,058,587 |
| 2 | DLA Piper LLP (US | $997,057 |
| 3 | Rand Paster & Nelson, LLP | $795,261 |
| 4 | Craig Lawson & Co., LLC | $604,210 |
| 5 | TChoi and Associates | $540,285 |
| 6 | M Strategic Communications | $536,500 |
| 7 | MAX DEVELOPMENT LLC dba three6ixty | $493,201 |
| 8 | Armbruster Goldsmith & Delvac LLP | $484,928 |
| 9 | Marathon Communications Inc | $392,812 |
| 10 | Mayer Brown LLP | $373,937 |
In addition to the lobbying entities, four major filers reported activity totaling $634,027 in the first quarter of 2023. The second graph in the next section below tracks major filer activity reported over the past year.
The full summary of first-quarter lobbying and major filer activities is available on the Ethics Commission’s website. Disclosed information about lobbying entities and their clients can be viewed and searched through the Lobbying Dashboard and the Public Data Portal on the Ethics Commission’s website.
The Ethics Commission was created by Los Angeles voters in 1990 to impartially administer and enforce the City’s governmental ethics, campaign financing, and lobbying laws.
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