212: What Does a Lobbyist Actually Do? with David Louie

I hear the word lobbying and used to envision some sort of dark mysterious magic taking place.  But it turns out there are some very forthright, thoughtful individuals who play the role of lobbyist - being hired because they know something about how the legislative process works, willing to give advice and defend positions about what they think is right when it comes to regulating companies and advocating for or against policies that will impact the folks living in our country.  

Today, we speak with one of those fantastic individuals, David Louie.  David is a former Attorney General of Hawaii and lobbyist for firms including Meta and Airbnb.  So grateful that he was willing to share this time with us on the podcast so we can learn first-hand about what lobbying means for individuals, and for the future of our democracy!   And a note to all you lawyers out there: add “lobbyist” as a potential career path if you want to use your advocacy skills in a different, yet similar, way…

What to listen for:

The actual definition of a lobbyist, and what skill sets and experience are useful in the field

What sources of information and pressure a lobbyist has to consider

Ways interactions with legislators can go – whether it’s easy to get meetings, and more

How the system of lobbying affects our ability to make sound decisions in this country – and whether it’s helping or hurting us as a democracy 

About David Louie: 

David M. Louie is a civil trial lawyer at Kobayashi Sugita & Goda, LLP in Honolulu, Hawai‘i—handling complex commercial litigation, construction defect claims, catastrophic personal injury defense, constitutional issues for the State of Hawai‘i, government affairs, and lobbying—and also serves as a mediator and arbitrator. He was Hawai‘i’s attorney general from 2011 to 2014, providing advice, counsel, and representation to the governor, cabinet, legislature, State agencies, and employees. He has served as president, vice president, and director of the Hawai‘i State Bar Association, as Lawyer Representative for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and as Northwest Regional Governor for the National Asian-Pacific American Bar Association. He graduated from Occidental College and Berkeley Law School and currently lives in Honolulu.