It’s been almost a year since Tillie Fowler took a job in the Pubic Law Department of Holland & Knight’s Washington D.C. office. The former U.S. representative now spends about 75 percent of her time in Washington and the rest here. She recently discussed her new job with Daily Record staff writer Sean McManus.
Question: How’s the transition from Congress to private practice?
Answer: Well, I definitely made the right decision going with Holland & Knight. I received a lot of offers when I left the House and as it turned out we are a great fit. There are over 200 attorneys in the Washington office and I really enjoy Holland & Knight’s national presence. It’s different, but change is important in life.
Q: What’s your day-to-day life like?
A: I offer strategic advice to clients and other lawyers about how to navigate through the legislative branch. Whether it’s an environmental firm, a defense contractor or a transportation company, I will utilize my experience to help them develop a strategy for working with Congress. The variety keeps it interesting.
Q: Are there any vestiges of your old life in your new job?
A: Actually quite a lot. Gerry Sikovski, who is a former congressman from Minnesota and runs the Public Law Department, has given me a tremendous amount of flexibility to serve in a more public capacity advising the government on various boards.
Q: What specifically?
A: [Defense] Secretary [Donald] Rumsfeld has appointed me to the Defense Policy Board and we’ve got a meeting at the Pentagon in two weeks. The Chief of Naval Operations has put me on his executive advisory panel to make recommendations about the future of the Navy, and I’m one of 12 members on the House speaker’s Commission on the Future of Aerospace. Europe said it wants to be the global leader in aerospace by 2020; the United States wants to keep its hegemony. We’ll make sure that we do.
Q: Does this keep you pretty well connected with Jacksonville?
A: Well considering my work with defense, where I have a lot of experience, Jacksonville stays a top priority.
Q: Tell me about the specifics of strategy sessions with clients.
A: Well, I can’t mention clients by name without their permission, but generally speaking we talk about how to crystallize lobbying efforts, how to work with specific members of Congress, how to compose the right language, how and when to deliver testimony, what processes are the most important and which key people are the most important depending on what the agenda is.
Q: Can you do any lobbying yourself?
A: The rule is no lobbying for one year after leaving Congress, so in April I can potentially do some lobbying if it makes sense for me and for Holland & Knight.
Q: What’s your history as a lawyer?
A: I graduated from Emory Law School in 1967 and at the time women could not really be trial lawyers in the South. So I moved to Washington and became the Legislative Assistant to the Congressman from Athens, Georgia. After two and a half years, I went to work in the Consumer Affairs Office of the White House and eventually became general council of that office. Then I moved to Jacksonville and did volunteer work for 14 years before running for public office.
Q: You gave some money to Linda Sparks for her campaign against Steve Wise. Can we expect to see you become active in local campaigns this year?
A: Linda has been a friend of mine for a long time and she called me very early. There are so many qualified Republicans running that I think it would be better for me to be less vocal. I will continue to vote. As an ex-congresswoman, my role is to encourage everyone to vote.