GrayRobinson's lobbying operation reported earning more than $12 million last year, a new record for the firm.
Lobbying compensation reports for the fourth quarter show the state's largest lobbying-legal firm topped $3 million in revenues for the fourth consecutive quarter. The sum of all quarters puts the firm at $12.35 million for the year. The total includes $6.6 million in legislative lobbying income and $5.75 million in executive branch revenue.
The total represents a sizable bump from the $10.75 million the firm logged in 2022.
Florida Politics estimates lobbying pay based on the middle number of the per-client ranges firms list on their compensation reports. Contracts are reported in $10,000 increments up to $50,000. Using median estimates, the firm ranks No. 4 on Florida Politics' Lobby Firm Rankings.
Led by Dean Cannon, a former House Speaker, the GrayRobinson team includes more than two dozen advocates. The list: Jeff Aaron, David Allen, Christopher Berg, Christopher Carmody, Carlecia Collins, Larry Cretul, Christopher Dawson, Angela Drzewiecki, Katie Flury, Allison Goodson, Rheb Harbison, John Harris, Michael Huey, Ty Jackson, Leeann Krieg, George Levesque, Jessica Love, Ashley Lukis, Blake Mathesie, Ryan Matthews, Kim McDougal, Thomasina Moore, Kirk Pepper, Thomas Philpot, Richard Plotkin, Joseph Salzverg, Robert Stuart, John Truitt and Jason Unger.
The sizable lobbying team had no shortage of clients to serve — GrayRobinson listed more than 250 contracts on each of its reports.
The legislative lobbying reports were led by the Florida Municipal Electric Association, which paid an estimated $180,000 for help in the Legislature last year. Five other clients broke the century mark in legislative pay, including AvMed, Centene Corporation, the Florida League of Cities, Sunset Harbour Yacht Club and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.
The bulk of GrayRobinson's legislative lobbying clients paid an estimated $60,000 last year, or $15,000 per quarter. The set spans a diverse range of industries — fuel station chain Buc-ee's, computer hardware juggernaut Lenovo, and Generation Next's favorite soda company, Pepsi, each made an appearance.
The client sheet also housed more than a dozen statewide associations, including the Florida Association of Counties, Florida Association of the American Institute of Architects, the Florida Roofing & Sheet Metal Contractors Association and Florida Society of Health-System Pharmacists. Local governments were another revenue driver for the firm.
Oracle America topped GrayRobinson's executive branch report with an estimated $110,000 in payments last year. It was followed by Coreview and the Florida League of Cities, both of which showed up at the $100,000 level. The Florida Municipal Electric Association was further down at $60,000, but its combined total of $240,000 ranks it as GrayRobinson's top client for the year.
Using the top-end of per-client ranges, the firm may have earned as much as $19.82 million in 2023.
Florida lobbyists and lobbying firms faced a Feb. 14 deadline to file compensation reports for the period covering Oct. 1 through Dec. 31. Compensation reports for the first quarter are due to the state on May 15.
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