Expanding the Effective Advocate’s Toolbox: Understanding the Legal and Ethical Landscape of Lobbying (Presented by the Federal Bar Association’s Professional Development Committee Government Relations Subcommittee)

Dan earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and an M.A. from the University of Virginia (both 1990), after an A.B., cum laude, from Princeton University (1986). He is admitted to the District of Columbia Bar.

Dan has been recognized for his government relations work by The Best Lawyers in America, the nation’s oldest peer review directory for lawyers, every year since 2014. One of his advocacy efforts was named among The Hill’s “Top 10 Lobbying Triumphs of 2009.”

Dan serves as ad hoc Government Relations Counsel on the Federal Bar Association’s Government Relations Committee, alongside Cissy Jackson. He leads ArentFox Schiff’s engagement as the FBA’s outside government relations counsel. At the firm, he co-leads the Government Relations practice group and also serves in the International Trade and Transactions practice group.

He is the former Legislative Director and Deputy Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) and a former Presidentially appointed Member of the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. At ArentFox Schiff, Dan represents corporate, association, and nonprofit clients, providing innovative strategic planning and tireless advocacy in the nation’s capital on issues that include health, trade, tax, energy, Medicare reimbursement, transportation infrastructure, biomedical research, and economic development policy.

Cissy earned her J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law (1990), where she was elected to the Order of the Coif and was a Patrick Wilson Scholar, and her B.A., with honors, from the University of Virginia (1987). She is admitted to the District of Columbia Bar, the Alabama Bar, and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Cissy is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress. She also serves as ad hoc Government Relations Counsel on the Federal Bar Association’s Government Relations Committee, alongside Dan Renberg, and co-leads ArentFox Schiff’s engagement as the FBA’s government relations counsel.

She authors the FBA’s Beltway Bulletin column in The Federal Lawyer, the journal of the Federal Bar Association.

She served as both Counsel and National Security Adviser to Senator Doug Jones of Alabama, advising the Senator on legislation, votes, and policy and working with bipartisan Congressional colleagues, senior Pentagon leadership, and defense industry stakeholders to draft and enact the FY20 and FY21 National Defense Authorization Acts and Defense Appropriations bills. Before joining the Senator’s staff, Cissy was in the private practice of law, handling insurance fraud and bad faith, products liability, white collar, False Claims Act, grand jury investigation, and commercial property tax appeal matters. At ArentFox Schiff, Cissy helps clients develop and implement successful advocacy strategies on bipartisan and nonpartisan policy issues involving the federal courts, national security, and trade, as well as represents clients in complex civil, False Claims Act, and white collar criminal litigation matters in state and federal courts. After graduating from law school, she served as a law clerk to the Honorable Sam C. Pointer, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

Mary Grace earned her J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law (2008) and her B.A. in Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley (1996). She is admitted to the California Bar.

A thought leader in the area of professional responsibility, Mary Grace is frequently tapped to speak and write on developing issues and has led numerous trainings on the nuances of the topic.

In addition, she has served as an adjunct professor teaching Professional Responsibility at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego and the John F. Kennedy School of Law in Pleasant Hill, California.

She worked on the landmark case that allowed undocumented individuals to become licensed attorneys in California (In Re Garcia [2014] 38 Cal.4th 4440).

Maura earned her J.D., magna cum laude, from Roger Williams University School of Law (2014), where she served as an Articles Editor of the Roger Williams University Law Review. She is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.

She chaired the FBA’s Sections & Divisions Council and now chairs the Government Relations Committee. In 2025, she earned the FBA’s President’s Award in recognition of outstanding leadership and dedication to the FBA and to advancing the legal profession.

Maura is also an active member of the Federal Bar Association. She has served in leadership positions in the FBA’s Veterans and Military Law Section and Rhode Island Chapter; as a member of the standing Membership Committee; and as a participant in award selection and program planning committees.

Throughout her career, she has represented hundreds of veterans and their dependents in their pursuit of VA benefits before both the VA and the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. She has presented and organized numerous continuing legal education events that have focused on service-connected VA benefits and appeals, VA’s appeals reform legislation, and petitions for writs of mandamus at the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.