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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndianapolis-based Barnes & Thornburg has lost a second of its lobbyists linked to a congressional bribery and corruption scandal surrounding jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Kevin A. Ring resigned Friday from the Washington, D.C., office, managing partner Alan Levin said. The move came more than a year after another lobbyist, Neil Volz, severed his ties with the firm’s Washington office.
Ring’s attorney, Richard A. Hibey at Miller & Chevalier in Washington, D.C., did not return messages this morning.
“There has never been a suggestion that any of the lobbying activities under investigation occurred at Barnes & Thornburg,” Levin said. “All of these issues occurred before they came to the law firm, and we see this as having no effect on our ability to continue to deliver the same services we have been. We have a strong practice, and we’ll continue to have that strong presence, both locally and in Washington.”
About 10 people work in the firm’s lobbying practice in its Washington, D.C., office, in addition to a number of lobbyists and attorneys in its Indianapolis office.
Ring’s resignation comes amid a Justice Department investigation into dealings between Abramoff and Rep. John Doolittle, R-California. Ring was an aide to Doolittle for five years and later worked for Abramoff at Florida-based law firm Greenberg Traurig before joining Barnes & Thornburg, according to news reports.
Abramoff is accused of taking millions of dollars in lobbying fees from Indian clients in exchange for claims that he could influence Congressional decisions, according to news reports.
Ring was one of three former Abramoff associates—Ring, Volz, and current of counsel Edward Ayoob—employed by the Indianapolis firm, which has 300 lawyers in Washington and various Midwest locations. Ayoob has not been implicated and remains an important part of the firm, Levin said.
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