Phil Goldberg

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Phil Goldberg is a lobbyist at Shook, Hardy and Bacon, as well as an advisor to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

Ties to American Legislative Exchange Council

Goldberg is an advisor to the ALEC Civil Justice Task Force, which generates the ALEC “tort reform” model legislation. In the March, 2011 issue of “Inside ALEC,” Goldberg wrote an article titled “State-Sponsored Global Warming Litigation is Weighing Down on American Business.”

About ALEC

ALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our ExposedbyCMD.org site.

Other Shook, Hardy & Bacon lobbyists and attorneys are also tied to ALEC, and the American Association for Justice has suggested the firm lobbies for the organization (visit the Shook, Hardy & Bacon page for more information).

Many of Shook Hardy & Bacon’s lobbying clients are also ALEC corporate members, including a variety of pharmaceutical companies (Eli Lilly and Company, Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manucaturers of America [PhRMA]) and historically, tobacco companies.

"Corporate Democrat-For-Hire"

AlterNet, in a 2006 article, described Goldberg as among the top ten "Corporate Democrats For-Hire."

According to AlterNet profile:

"Say hi to Phil Goldberg of the firm of Shook, Hardy and Bacon. Goldberg served as an aide to several Democratic members of Congress. Before coming to Shook Hardy, he headed the litigation communications section of D.C. public relations firm Ketchum (run by former GOP House star Susan Molinari, it's the outfit that channeled $240,000 from the Bush Administration to Armstrong Williams, the prominent African-American radio and television personality, for his support for the president's No Child Left Behind project). Promotional materials say that Goldberg 'educates the public and other important audiences of client issues. Through his work, Phil has become an emerging voice in the moderate wing of the Democratic Party.

Goldberg personally represents the National Restaurant Association (objectives include making it more difficult to sue over obesity-related issues and opposition to consumer group efforts for greater truth in labeling). Firm clients have included the Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers (on medical malpractice liability and opposing class actions); Animal Health Institute (on limiting pet medicine manufacturers' liability for animal health); Philip Morris/Altria (limiting liability in class-action suits); Coalition for Litigation Justice (insurance industry lobby group seeking to limit liability in asbestos and silica cases). The firm was named by the International Who's Who of Business Lawyers 2005 as 'the world's leading firm for product liability defense expertise.'"

Goldberg is also a former staffer of former California Democratic U.S. Rep. Ellen Tauscher, who now works for the U.S. State Department.

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