ACG November Breakfast: Will Washington, D.C. Help Us or Hurt Us? The Insiders' Views

Edward Ayoob is a partner and the co-chair of the Federal Relations Group in Barnes & Thornburg LLP’s Washington, D.C., office. His work on behalf of clients includes areas such as taxation, appropriations, Native American, small business, foreign affairs, and various regulatory concerns, among numerous other issues. Mr. Ayoob is the former legislative counsel, tax counsel, appropriations manager, and foreign affairs advisor to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D – NV). He was also the senator’s chief aide on judicial nominations and other issues related to the senator’s leadership role. Mr. Ayoob also served as Majority Leader Reid’s assistant finance director on the senator’s successful 1998 reelection campaign. He has worked in the government and represented clients’ interests before the government for 20 years. Mr. Ayoob received his J.D. in 1996 from Duquesne University School of Law, where he was elected vice-president of the Student Bar Association. He also was a member of Duquesne’s Trial Moot Court and Appellate Moot Court Honor Societies. He clerked for Allegheny County (PA) Court of Common Pleas President Judge Robert E. Dauer. Mr. Ayoob is not regularly admitted to practice law in the local courts of the District of Columbia. Mr. Ayoob graduated in 1991 from the University of Pittsburgh with a B.A. in international relations and political science. In 1990, he attended La Sorbonne and the American University of Paris. Mr. Ayoob is a member of the board of governors of the Arab American Institute and a member of the board of trustees of the International Maronite (Lebanese Catholics) Foundation. He is also a former president (1999-2004) and member of the board of directors of the Nevada State Society. Mr. Ayoob is not regularly admitted to practice law in the local courts of the District of Columbia.

Craig S. Burkhardt is a Washington, D.C., and Chicago partner in Barnes & Thornburg's Government Services and Finance Department. He advises clients on Illinois state and federal government relations and regulatory matters related to the utility, higher education, technology and healthcare insurance sectors. He also practices election law, and has twice served as president of the Republican National Lawyers Association. Earlier in his career, he served as chief counsel for the Republican leader of the Illinois House of Representatives and general counsel of the Illinois Republican Party. Mr. Burkhardt concentrates his practice in lobbying the U.S. Congress, federal agencies and Illinois state government, and is particularly familiar with members and staff of the Illinois Congressional Delegation and the Illinois General Assembly. With the 2014 election of a Republican Illinois Governor, he communicates with administration members and maintains a full-time office and staff in Springfield for that purpose. His principal clients are in fields where ability to advocate complex or technical concepts is required, including advocating for statutory and regulatory change, awarding of significant government competitive grants and settling significant financial disputes with government agencies. Achievements for clients have included successfully acting as principal lobbyist in obtaining changes to statutory and regulatory provisions, through which fundamental economic conditions of client operations have been improved. Mr. Burkhardt serves on the firm's Professional Responsibility (ethics) Committee. From 2003-2006, Mr. Burkhardt served as White House-appointed Chief Counsel for Technology at the U.S. Department of Commerce, leading the legal staff responsible for providing advice to the National Institute of Standards and Technology and other federal technology-related agencies. He supervised the legal team investigating the New York World Trade Center building and fire safety disaster, for which he was presented the department’s Gold Medal for scientific and engineering achievement. He also headed the department’s office of the Chief Counsel for Industry and Security, leading the legal staff responsible for providing export administration and enforcement advice to the Bureau of Industry and Security. For thirty years, Mr. Burkhardt has been a leader in the local and national councils of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). His service has includes leadership positions on local, regional and national committees, foundations, advisory boards and executive boards. He is president of the local BSA council for the Chicago and northwest Indiana metropolitan area. Mr. Burkhardt received his J.D. from St. Louis University in 1984, and his B.A. in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.