Mark Gitenstein – Advisory Board: Obama-Biden Transition Project
Gitenstein has worked at law firm Mayer Brown since 1989. His bio on the Mayer Brown Web site said he "represents corporations and associations before the U.S. Congress and federal agencies; prepares legislative strategies and analyses of pending and potential legislation; and monitors and drafts legislation on behalf of corporate clients. In addition, he advises clients in the context of antitrust, white-collar crime, and civil liability controversies."
Among more than 30 lobbying clients Gitenstein has represented are the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Lockheed Martin, Boeing Co., United Technologies, and Bayer Corp. The Chamber, which has several times paid Mayer Brown more than $1 million for six months of lobbying services, is the highest paying client.
In the first half of 2002, for example, Gitenstein and a dozen other Mayer Brown employees were paid $1.1 million to lobby for the Chamber on issues including tort reform, class actions, preemption and federalism, and campaign finance reform. Each of the three lobbying disclosure forms Mayer Brown submitted to the U.S Senate for the third quarter of 2008 (reporting work on behalf of KPMG, AT&T and the U.S. Chamber), said Gitenstein was "no longer expected to act as a lobbyist" for each client" as of Aug. 22.
Gitenstein held several Senate staff positions, including serving as chief counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1987 and 1988, before joining Mayer Brown. He is the author of "An Insider's Account of America's Rejection of Robert Bork's Nomination to the Supreme Court" (published in 1992).
As a nonresident senior fellow in governance studies, at the Brookings Institute, Gitenstein in November 2007 co-authored a position paper on detaining suspected terrorists.
