Ex-senator Chambliss heads to DLA Piper

Former Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) will be joining DLA Piper as a partner, the law and lobby giant announced on Thursday.

Chambliss retired this year after 20 years in Congress, including two terms in the Senate.

The firm says he will be based out of the firm’s Atlanta office “advising clients across the country” but will also do business in DLA Piper’s Washington office.

{mosads}He faces a two-year cooling-off period before he can legally lobby his former colleagues, though he told The Atlanta Journal Constitution he would not go the K Street advocacy route.

“I’m not going to lobby. That’s part of my deal. I’m not a lobbyist. I’m on the legal side of the firm,” he told the publication in a telephone interview on Wednesday evening.

He also mentioned being able to use his defense and cybersecurity policy expertise and develop contacts from within the firm’s offices in 30 countries throughout the world.

Chambliss also told the Journal Constitution that he may do “some other corporate stuff” such as joining advisory boards — including one focused on the U.S. intelligence community.

“His insight and guidance will be of tremendous value to clients with pressing global interests, before the new Congress and within the constantly changing regulatory and public policy environment,” said Roger Meltzer, global co-chairman and Americas co-chairman of DLA Piper.

“Senator Chambliss is deeply respected in Washington and abroad and has extensive relationships among government and corporate leaders, which will be an asset in our continued work across disciplines and industries around the world,” he said.

Chambliss was most recently the vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and a member of Senate Armed Services Committee, the Senate Rules Committee and the Senate on Agriculture Committee, which he formerly chaired.

In the House, he served as chairman of the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security.

DLA Piper last year attracted some big names in government into its offices, including former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, former Commodity Futures Trading Commission Commissioner Bart Chilton and former chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Sheila Bair.