Former House Leader Martin Frost Joins Polsinelli Shalton Welte Suelthaus; Major Addition to Firm's Growing Washington, D.C. Office

29 July 2006

Polsinelli Shalton Welte Suelthaus PC announced today that former Rep. Martin Frost, (D-TX), one of the most influential leaders of Congress during his 26 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, has joined the Midwest-based firm's Washington, D.C office as a shareholder.

Since January, Frost has been a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. He is a political commentator for Fox News, where he also writes a column for the news organization's Web site. After leaving Congress in 2005, Frost was a Fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

"Martin's leadership, experience and energy provide an exciting enhancement as well as a perfect complement to our firm's culture," said W. Russell Welsh, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Polsinelli Shalton Welte Suelthaus. "His understanding of how Washington works -- the politics, the people and the process -- and his unparalleled legislative skills and broad knowledge of public policy will immensely benefit our clients."

Frost said he joined Polsinelli because of the firm's talented leadership and its prospects for dynamic growth over the next several years. "I am excited about joining a firm with outstanding lawyers and prestigious clients. I look forward to helping the Washington office develop an even stronger government relations practice," Frost added.

From 1979-2005, Frost served as a Member of Congress representing the Dallas-Fort Worth area in north Texas. During his distinguished career in the House, he served from 1999-2003 as Chair of the Caucus, the third highest elected leadership position for Democrats, and was the senior Democrat on the powerful Rules Committee. During the 1996 and 1998 election cycles, Frost was the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, helping his party to a net gain of 14 House seats. When Frost departed Congress 18 months ago, he was the senior Southern Democrat in the House and the dean of the Texas congressional delegation. He is the only Jewish Member of Congress ever elected from Texas.

An innovative lawmaker with the ability to craft bipartisan legislation, Frost is a co-author of both the privacy provisions in the landmark financial industry deregulation statute, the 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, and the 1992 Industrial Base and Defense Conversion Act, which enabled communities and individuals to respond to the downsizing of the defense industry.

Frost was also the author of the National Amber Alert law that helps find children victimized by predators. From 1990-95, he also chaired a special House Task Force established to help Eastern and Central European nations transition to democracy after the fall of the Berlin Wall. He has continued democracy-building efforts through work with the National Democratic Institute. He was also co-chair with former Rep. Jennifer Dunn, (R-WA), of the Bipartisan Working Group on Youth Violence and a co-chair with former Rep. Christopher Cox, (R-CA), of a bipartisan working group on continuity of government, which examined ways to ensure the continued operation of the federal government after a terrorist attack or a natural disaster.

Frost is a Member of the Texas Bar and a former practicing lawyer in Dallas. A graduate of the Georgetown Law Center, where he was a member of the law review, Frost clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Sarah T. Hughes of the Northern District of Texas.

Frost brings a range of Missouri connections to the firm. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism degree. His grandmother was from St. Louis, and his great-grandfather sold clothes at one of the city's most famous department stores. As a senior member of the House Rules Committee, Frost became quite close to Chairman Richard Bolling, (D-Mo.), from Kansas City and delivered a eulogy at Bolling's 1991 memorial service.

After journalism school, Frost worked as a reporter for the Wilmington (DE) News-Journal and Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report in Washington before going on to law school and becoming a lawyer. Frost is the father of three daughters and has three granddaughters. He is married to Army Maj. General (retired) Kathy Frost.

Polsinelli established a Washington, D.C. office in 2004. In September 2005, the firm expanded its operations in the nation's capital by adding several lawyers and lobbyists, including Washington veteran James H. Davidson, whose firm, Davidson & Co., is a wholly owned subsidiary of Polsinelli. Frost will work closely with Davidson & Co. of Polsinelli Shalton Welte Suelthaus as well as with its other members, Teddy Eynon, former deputy chief of staff to Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ) and Elizabeth Powell, former legislative assistant to Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI). In the Washington law practice, the firm also added William D. Blakely and Carol Guy-Jackson, formerly with the law firm of DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary. E. Michael Flanagan joined the Washington office in April of this year.

About Polsinelli Shalton Welte Suelthaus PC

Polsinelli Shalton Welte Suelthaus PC, one of the fastest-growing firms in the United States, has more than 260 attorneys in offices located in Kansas City; St. Louis; Chicago; New York; Washington, D.C.; Topeka, Kan.; and Edwardsville, Ill. It is a business law firm recognized as a leader in the areas of Business Law, Financial Services, Real Estate, Public Law and Litigation. The firm provides legal services for Fortune 50 companies, investment banks, financial institutions, entrepreneurs, nonprofit organizations and other regional and national entities. Polsinelli Shalton Welte Suelthaus can be found online at http://www.pswslaw.com.

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