Cynthia Shenker has spent her entire professional career in New York legislative and regulatory affairs and is a founding member of the firm's Albany, NY Government Relations practice, ranked as the state's top lobbying firm. She also is a member of the firm's Executive Committee and Pro Bono Committee. Cynthia is especially adept at utilizing the legislative and regulatory process to solve client issues. Numerous state and national associations and Fortune 500 corporations have relied for many years on Cynthia's unwavering perseverance and savvy negotiating tactics to help them meet their funding needs and business goals. The long-term relationship she has built with each of her clients enables Cynthia to match them with the resource best positioned to address their particular issue, whether it's a key policymaker in New York State government or one of her colleagues at Wilson Elser. Prior to joining the firm, she worked for 18 years in the New York State Legislature serving as counsel to three Assembly Majority Leaders, as well as in a variety of other staff positions. Areas of Focus Government Relations Cynthia has been deeply involved in all aspects of the firm's Government Relations practice since its inception nearly 20 years ago. She initially represented firm clients such as the Health Care Association of New York State as well as a number of hospitals. Since then, she has been instrumental in growing the firm's lobbying practice to encompass a range of other industries and issues, including energy and environment, telecommunications, taxation, insurance, transportation, financial services, education, construction and not-for-profit organizations. Whether she is retained to help a major financial services client with a tax department regulation or a small non-profit secure funding to provide legal services to the deaf, Cynthia taps into her exceptional legal skills, her intimate understanding of the legislative process, her relationships with key policymakers, and her access to the firm's additional resources in litigation, government investigations and other areas. Cynthia is known for her unwavering commitment to client service