Partner, Atlanta, Washington DC
303 Peachtree Street, NE
Suite 5300
Atlanta, GA 30308

TEL: 404.527.4673
FAX: 404.527.4198
EMAIL: dchalmers@mckennalong.com

PROFILE

Doug Chalmers, a member of the McKenna Long & Aldridge Political Law Team, is a leading authority on campaign finance, government ethics, lobbying and election law.  He advises public officials, candidates, political action committees, corporations, political parties and lobbyists on state and federal laws regulating political activity. 

At the state level, Doug has successfully defended numerous clients in high-profile cases before the State Ethics Commission.  He has also written a number of published articles on the Ethics in Government Act. His clients have included the Governor; Speaker of the House; Senate President; Senate and House Majority Leaders, and numerous other elected officials and candidates. He has also represented the Senate and House Republican caucuses; the Georgia Republican Party; and various corporations, lobbyists, political action committees and county political parties.

Doug also practices before the Federal Election Commission.  His federal clients have included former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Dennis Hastert and other federal officeholders and candidates.  Doug is also Vice Chairman of the Election Education Committee of the Republican National Lawyers Association.

Doug also represents insurers and reinsurers, including Zurich, ACE and Cigna, in high profile and complex matters related to insurance and reinsurance coverage, claims handling, bad faith and tort liability.  He is a member of the Professional Liability Underwriters Society (PLUS), and is an editor of the newsletter of the American Bar Association Professional Liability Litigation Committee.

Doug is a frequent lecturer and author.  He has spoken at continuing legal education and election law seminars around the country, and he conducts regular compliance training programs, including for members of the Senate and House Republican caucuses.  Law & Politics and Atlanta Magazine have recognized Doug as a Georgia Super Lawyer Rising Star.

Doug is also active in civic affairs. In 2005, Governor Sonny Perdue appointed him to the Board of Directors of the Georgia Department of Driver Services, and in 2006 he was elected Vice-Chairman of the Board. Doug is Secretary of the Republican National Lawyers Association, and Chairman of the RNLA's Georgia chapter. He is also active in the Federalist Society, serving on the Executive Board of the Atlanta Lawyers Chapter and on the Executive Committee of the Free Speech and Election Law Practice Group. He is currently Co-Chairman of Georgia Lawyers for McCain.  During the previous Giuliani presidential campaign, he was Chairman of Lawyers for Rudy in the southeastern U.S. and in Georgia. Doug is also a member of the Board of Governors of the Georgia Republican Party Foundation.

Doug received his undergraduate and law degrees from Duke University.  He was an editor of the Duke Law Journal, was on the Moot Court Board, and received the James S. Bidlake Award for Superior Achievement in Legal Research and Writing.  Following law school, he clerked for Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.