Ballard Partners, which branched out into federal lobbying work just a few months ago, is poised to leverage its White House access to become one of the top lobbying firms by year's end.
Ballard signed two new clients last week, bringing its total number of new clients this year to 41. By contrast, Akin Gump, currently the top lobbying firm and with dozens of lobbyists and decades of having a top reputation, has signed 37 new clients this year.
Ballard has reported about $3.6 million in federal lobbying revenue so far this year. That puts it well below Akin Gump's $19.2 million but its growth in federal revenues is sufficient to suggest it will easily rank in the top 20 lobbying firms this year.
American Continental Group, so far ranked as this year's 20th-highest revenue generator, has brought in $2.21 million more than Ballard Partners but also has been building its client base since the 1990s. Ballard has been growing its federal revenue from $0 since February.
Significantly, Ballard's success is built on only five registered federal lobbyists, providing them well over $1 million in average revenue per registered lobbyist on an annualized basis. By contrast, Akin Gump's revenue per registered lobbyist is closer to $500,000 per lobbyist on an annualized basis.
Of course, Ballard Partners didn't entirely start its entire business from scratch. The firm was already one of Florida's top state-registered lobbying firms when they opened their Washington office in February. Ballard, which advertises access to the Trump administration, represented the Trump Organization from 2013 until 2016 in Florida.
