Practice Focus

Sonia Fois is a senior counsel in Arnold & Porter LLP's legislative and public policy and government contracts practice groups. Her practice is focused on servicing business clients with respect to their complex public policy and legal compliance needs.

Voted one of the "Top Campaigns and Elections Lawyers" in the November 2004, November 2007, and December 2009 editions of Washingtonian, Ms. Fois' compliance practice is concentrated on advising clients on "political law" issues—i.e., campaign finance and other electoral activity, lobbying restrictions and disclosure, government procurement, foreign agent registration, and government ethics (e.g., entertaining public officials, bribery and gratuities, conflicts of interest). Her practice covers not only the federal rules, but also their varying state and local counterparts. In addition to general counseling, Ms. Fois provides the following services:

• developing “best practices” in corporate governance, internal controls, and operational risk management for a company’s political activity via a company-wide compliance program,
• drafting policies and procedures for political activity;
• assisting start-up political action committees (PAC) and advising those already in existence on operational rules;
• training political operatives on the governing rules and policies;
• representing companies and individuals before regulatory and enforcement bodies;
• assisting in internal audits and investigations, and due diligence;
• advising on reporting and other filing obligations; and
• providing legal analyses of applicable law, including 50-state surveys.

Ms. Fois' clients have included FORTUNE 500 companies from a wide variety of industry sectors, including financial and accounting services, consulting, high-tech, pharmaceuticals and other health sciences, consumer products, insurance, and telecommunications. She also advises trade associations, nonprofits, foreign governments, and candidate and PACs. She is a featured speaker and writer in the legal compliance field, which includes teaching at the Congressional Quarterly Executive Conference's bi-yearly PAC Workshop.

As part of her legislative and public policy practice, Ms. Fois develops and implements strategies to address and solve multifaceted issues facing clients before the US Congress, the federal executive branch, and state and local legislatures and agencies. Her services include: representing clients before congressional committees: drafting testimony and preparing witnesses; analyzing the legal ramifications of proposed governmental action on a client’s business; drafting position papers and proposed legislative and regulatory language for clients; and supervising the monitoring of legislative and regulatory developments.

These legislative and public policy services have spanned most areas of law: health sciences, legal reform (including product liability), environmental, international trade, national security, tax policy, intellectual property, foreign assistance, telecommunications, and federal appropriation and budget issues.

Ms. Fois previously served on the professional staff of the Oversight Subcommittee of the US Senate Governmental Affairs Committee.

She is a 1987 graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center, magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, and wrote for the Georgetown Law Journal.