Cassidy & Associates is a government-relations firm based in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, known for pioneering the use of congressional earmarks

Earmark (politics)

In United States politics, an earmark is a legislative provision that directs approved funds to be spent on specific projects, or that directs specific exemptions from taxes or mandated fees...

 as a method of obtaining grants for university clients. It was founded in 1975 as Schlossberg-Cassidy Associates by Gerald Cassidy

Gerald Cassidy

Gerald "Gerry" Cassidy is a prominent lobbyist in Washington, D.C. He is the co-founder and CEO of Cassidy & Associates. He is a graduate of Villanova University and Cornell Law Gerald "Gerry" Cassidy is a prominent lobbyist in Washington, D.C. He is the co-founder and CEO of Cassidy &...

 and Kenneth Schlossberg, both former aides to Sen. George McGovern

George McGovern

George Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....

. Cassidy today remains CEO of the firm, both of which were profiled in a 2007 series in the Washington Post. Other principal officers include vice chairmen Marty Russo and Gregg Hartley. The European branch spun off to form EU lobbying law firm Alber & Geiger

Alber & Geiger

Alber & Geiger is a political lobbying powerhouse and the leading European government relations law firm. The firm currently has offices in Brussels and Berlin....

 beginning in 2007, named for former Cassidy CEO Andreas Geiger and the former Advocate General of the European Court of Justice, Siegbert Alber. In 2010 Cassidy's Moscow CEO left the company as well.

In 2008, Cassidy & Associates reported $23.6 million in lobbying income, a decrease of 4% from 2007. In 2009 finally, Cassidy - for a long time the number one lobbying firm in DC - dropped to rank 8 in The Hill's and Roll Call's rankings, based on US Senate filings.

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo is an Equatoguinean politician who has been President of Equatorial Guinea since 1979. He ousted his uncle, Francisco Macías Nguema, in an August 1979 military coup and has overseen Equatorial Guinea's emergence as an important oil producer, beginning in the 1990s...

, the dictator of Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea where the capital Malabo is situated.Annobón is the southernmost island of Equatorial Guinea and is situated just south of the equator. Bioko island is the northernmost point of Equatorial Guinea. Between the two islands and to the...

, is the largest single client of Cassidy & Associates, and pays at least $120,000 per month to improve his image in the United States. In 2010 the firm lost this client and laid off 20% of its staff, including its CEO Marty Russo

Marty Russo

Martin Anthony Russo is a U.S. Democratic politician and lobbyist.- Political career :He was elected as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives from Illinois and served from January 3, 1975 to January 3, 1993.From 1979 to 1992, Russo served on the Ways and Means Committee...

External links

• Cassidy & Associates Web site
• Tufts Magazine with information about the C&A's founding
• Alber & Geiger Web site
• Lobbyist4hire.com