Fred Clark

Mr. Clark brings the benefit of twenty-five years of legislative and legal experience in federal and state government and in the private sector to Cornerstone Government Affairs. He has earned a reputation as one of Washington’s most skilled legislative lawyers in the areas of federal agriculture programs and policy, finance, and related matters. Since beginning his practice in 1993, Mr. Clark has built a practice representing clients with interests in domestic legislative and regulatory matters, and related international concerns. His insight and experience are key to the achievement of clients’ goals in a wide array of policy and legislative areas. Mr. Clark provides legislative drafting, legal representation, strategic planning, and analytical services for clients with interests in various agriculture, trade and related programs. His long-term representation of several major farm commodity organizations, a $40 billion cooperative bank, and the nation’s largest futures exchange has also given him extensive experience in complex administrative and regulatory matters. Prior to establishing his own law practice in 1993, Mr. Clark served for eight years on the staff of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture. He served for five years as committee Counsel, and participated extensively in the writing of both the 1985 and 1990 omnibus farm bills, as well as other legislation. As Counsel to the Committee, Mr. Clark was the principal draftsman of bills considered by the Committee. He worked closely with the Committee Chairman and Members in every aspect of the legislative process, and became a recognized expert in legislative drafting, parliamentary maneuvering, and the rules and practices of the House and Senate. Upon arriving in Washington in 1983, Mr. Clark served in the office of then-Congressman Richard Lehman, where he was responsible for legislative activities on the Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs. Mr. Clark served as a staff member in the California Legislature in 1981 and 1982, where he staffed the Select Committee on Energy Alternatives in Agriculture, and crafted a series of bills regarding small energy production and the federal Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act. Mr. Clark earned a law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center, after graduating magna cum laude from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo with a B.S. in Agriculture Business Management. He has been admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Mr. Clark resides in Arlington, Virginia with his wife Rika, whose daughter Hannah Spangler is attending Johns Hopkins University.