Biography
Ken Gross is a leading authority on political law with over three decades of experience advising on campaign law compliance, gift and gratuity rules, lobby disclosure laws as well as securities laws regulating political activity.
Ken represents numerous Fortune 500 corporations, trade associations as well as political candidates. He extends his counsel to senior-level political appointees facing Senate confirmation in matters related to compliance with government ethics laws. Ken’s client portfolio spans commercial and investment banks, insurance companies, energy companies, pharmaceuticals, media companies, trade associations, accounting firms and real estate businesses.
As former Associate General Counsel of the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Ken headed the General Counsel’s Enforcement Division and supervised the legal team charged with the review of the FEC’s Audit Division. His deep-seated experience encompasses advisory roles on pay to play laws and matters involving the Ethics in Government Act, the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, the Lobbying Disclosure Act and the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate ethics rules. He also has worked extensively with federal and state lobby registration laws, particularly in relation to compliance with the Lobbying Disclosure Act and the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Additionally, he advises corporations on internal ethics guidelines, conducts internal investigations as well as advises many corporations on their responses to shareholder proposals regarding disclosure of political and lobbying expenditures.
Ken’s distinguished professional career has garnered recognition from various notable publications. He has repeatedly been named in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business and The Best Lawyers in America. Washingtonian Magazine repeatedly acknowledges him as a top lawyer in the field of ethics and election law. Moreover, he was honored by Washington Post Magazine as a leading Washington, D.C. attorney and named Best Lawyers’ 2017 Washington, D.C. Government Relations Practice Lawyer of the Year. Roll Call listed him among exceptional lawyers in the “Who’s Who Among the Congressional Ethics Bar.” In 2006, he was the recipient of the Council on Governmental Ethics Law (COGEL) Award, the highest award given by COGEL in recognition of service to the ethics community.
Ken is the co-author of the Ethics Handbook for Entertaining and Lobbying Public Of?cials. His published articles on campaign finance have appeared in the Stanford Law and Policy Review and the Yale Law & Policy Review (“The Enforcement of Campaign Finance Rules: A System in Search of Reform”); Federal Bar Journal; Corporate Political Activities (published by Business Laws, Inc.); Money, Elections and Democracy; and several other publications. Prior to joining Akin Gump, Ken served as the head of the political law practice at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP for more than 30 years. He also served on the faculty of George Washington University and New York University and often lectures at Georgetown University Law Center, Fordham University School of Law and American University.