Brett
Richards
- Position
- Special Counsel
- Office
- Washington, DC
Brett Richards is special counsel in the firm’s Government Relations Practice Group. He works with businesses and industry associations to help shape emerging legislation and regulations.
With more than a decade of service in legislative and political advocacy, Brett advises businesses and industry groups that have interests, investments, and operations across the Southeast and along the US Gulf Coast on a broad range of emerging legislative and regulatory matters. Throughout his career, Brett has served as a key liaison between elected and appointed officials, business executives and industry leaders, state and local community groups and constituents, and other stakeholders. He has a broad understanding of policy and the regulatory process and advises clients across many industries, including in aviation and aerospace.
Prior to joining Jones Walker, Brett served as counsel and senior advisor to Sen. Roger F. Wicker of Mississippi. During his tenure on Capitol Hill, Brett worked on a range of issues that fell under the jurisdictions of the Senate Appropriations; Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; Environment and Public Works, and Judiciary committees. He regularly coordinated and developed policy and communications strategies and organized meetings between Wicker, senior business leaders, government officials, and agency representatives, primarily with the departments of Transportation and Commerce and the Federal Maritime Commission, among other federal agencies. Brett also provided policy counsel on issues involving aerospace, aviation, trade, infrastructure, economic development, and other issues of importance to the citizens of Mississippi.
Previously, Brett served as counsel to Mississippi’s Fourth Congressional District representative. In this role, he researched, monitored, and advised on developing legislation and emerging regulatory concerns involving agriculture and natural resources, healthcare, energy, the environment, education, insurance, and other social, business, and political issues. Outside Capitol Hill, Brett was a legal and research analyst for advocacy groups, served on the campaign staffs of state and national candidates, and was an associate in private practice. Early in his career, Brett was a judicial law clerk for the Mississippi Court of Appeals.