Scott Brown joins law and lobby firm

Former Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) is heading to the private sector.
 
Brown has joined Nixon Peabody, a law and lobby firm, as counsel in the firm’s Boston office. The Massachusetts Republican, also a former state senator, will concentrate his practice on “business and governmental affairs as they relate to the financial services industry as well as on commercial real estate matters,” according to the firm.
 
{mosads}“During my time in politics, I never hesitated to reach across the aisle to work with members of any political party to secure a preferable outcome. My approach is consistent with the way Nixon Peabody does business and I believe we can be successful together,” Brown said in a statement.
 
Brown joins former Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-N.Y.) at Nixon Peabody, one of the firm’s more prominent lobbyists. Brown has already signed on as a contributor to Fox News.
 
Nixon Peabody has a burgeoning K Street practice, having made more than $1.5 million in lobbying fees for all of 2012, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
 
Republicans had hoped that Brown would run for the Senate again, with a special election scheduled this year after John Kerry’s departure to be secretary of State. Brown lost his Senate seat to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) last year.
 
Brown declined to run in that race, but some Massachusetts Republicans have speculated that he could make a bid for governor in 2014.

This announcement makes that less likely — firms like Nixon-Peabody typically require long-term contracts, and it’s probable that Brown reassured his employers that he’d avoid another run for office for some time.

That, coupled with the fact Brown has also signed on as a Fox News commentator, which is unlikely to play well with voters in a state as blue as Massachusetts, minimizes the chances he’ll launch a gubernatorial bid in 2014 — though he hasn’t ruled the option out.
 
The path from Capitol Hill to law and lobby firms is familiar for ex-lawmakers. Last week, former Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) joined Covington & Burling, one of K Street’s top-earning firms. Other former Senate colleagues of Brown, like ex-Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), have headed up at law and lobby shops.

Alexandra Jaffe contributed to this report.