Former House Speaker John Boehner is joining a global law firm as a strategic adviser, the firm announced today.
Squire Patton Boggs, a law firm with 46 offices in 21 countries, will ask Boehner to advise clients in the United States and abroad, according to a release by the law firm.
While part of the firm’s portfolio includes lobbying, Boehner, who began his career in sales and is not a lawyer, will not lobby, according to the firm. The firm did not disclose Boehner’s salary in its release.
The announcement comes less than a week after Reynolds American Inc., the second-largest tobacco company in the nation, announced that Boehner, a West Chester Republican, was joining its board of directors. Boehner, 66, whose cigarette smoking habit was legendary during his time in the House, was often seen smoking Camel Ultra Lights, which Reynolds owns.
“With Speaker Boehner joining our team, we’re better positioned than ever to grow our brand throughout the world and to fully capitalize on our integrated global platform,” said Squire Patton Boggs chairman and global CEO Mark Ruehlmann. He said the firm is “one of the most established and well-recognized public policy practices in the world.”
Boehner, meanwhile, said he hoped to continue his work to removing “government barriers to economic growth and job creation.”
“My role with Squire Patton Boggs will give me the opportunity to engage with leaders in business and government throughout the world and help them work through the challenges they face as part of a world-class team.”
The firm, which has 1,500 lawyers, has three major offices in Ohio: Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati, and the firm’s global leadership team is based in Cincinnati. Ruehlmann is the son of former Cincinnati Mayor Gene Ruehlmann. Boehner will work frequently from both the D.C. and Cincinnati offices, but will also be traveling to the firm’s other 44 offices around the world.
Boehner, who retired from the House, in October, will join longtime aides John Criscuolo and Amy Lozupone, as well as former Boehner deputy chief of staff Dave Schnittger and policy adviser Natasha Hammond at the firm.
Boehner served in Congress from 1990 to October 2015, along with four years as speaker.