The swallowing of Washington DC strategy and lobbying firm McBee Strategic, by law firm Wiley Rein, has not been altogether the success Wiley’s will have wanted.
Since the acquisition over a third of McBeee’s employees have left or plan to leave, although most of the firm’s core clients remain.
The Washington Post reports that the 18 departures include five senior people at the executive vice president level, in addition to mid-level and junior staffers and associates. Together, they represent 36 percent of the 50 employees who worked at McBee at the time the acquisition was announced in late November.
Josh Lahey and Matt Johnson, former McBee executive vice presidents for advertising and lobbying, respectively, joined lobbying powerhouse Podesta in recent weeks. Colin Hayes, former McBee executive vice president specializing in energy policy, returned to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in December, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Ray Glendening, former vice president of innovation, will leave to join Direct Impact later this month, Glendening confirmed Thursday. Direct Impact is a mobile grassroots campaigning firm and a subsidiary of public relations firm Burson-Marsteller, which is owned by the global conglomerate WPP.
Read more at the Washington Post
