Richard Burr joins law and lobbying firm DLA Piper

Former Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), who opted not to run for reelection last year, is joining law and lobbying giant DLA Piper.

The three-term senator, who served as the top Republican on the influential Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, will primarily provide policy advice to pharmaceutical and other health sector companies as chair of the firm’s health policy strategic consulting practice.

Burr said in a statement he is eager to help clients “navigate the funding, regulation, policy and political landscape of the healthcare system, from drug development to patient care, with unparalleled insight and strategic advice at a time of regulatory and political uncertainty.” 

He didn’t seek reelection after coming under fire for selling up to $1.7 million in stocks at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, days before a stock market collapse. Burr was chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which privately briefed committee members on the threat of COVID-19. 

Federal authorities eventually dropped their investigations into Burr, but he stepped down from the top Intelligence Committee post amid bipartisan backlash. 

Burr is the tenth member of the 117th Congress, and the first senator, to land a lobbying or strategic consulting job. Numerous lawmakers typically head to K Street after the end of each Congress to get a major pay raise. 

Burr is bringing along Margaret Martin, his senior health committee adviser, and Micharl Sorensen, his former director of operations, to DLA Piper. 

They’ll join former Rep. Jim Greenwood (R-Pa.), who chairs DLA Piper’s life sciences policy practice and previously was CEO of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, a lobbying group that represents pharmaceutical industry titans.

Burr joins the firm as Republicans in Congress aim to unwind Democrats’ law to cap the price of popular prescription drugs, a key priority for drugmakers, which spend more on lobbying than any other industry. 

DLA Piper said that Burr and his team will work on several issues outside of health care, including energy, defense, technology, financial services, tax policy and education.