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Nielsen Merksamer participated in the 39^th annual Council on Government Ethics Laws (“COGEL”) Conference held in Toronto, Canada from December 3 – 6, 2017. COGEL is the professional association of government ethics administrators working in the fields of governmental ethics, freedom of information, elections, lobbying and campaign finance throughout North America.

The firm moderates an annual panel at which it presents and reviews a compendium of campaign finance litigation over the year. The “2017 Campaign Finance Litigation Update” was the collective effort of the editors from the firm, contributors from the Campaign Legal Center, Federal Election Commission and Elections British Columbia and respondents to a survey of COGEL members from the political regulatory agencies across the United States.

Summaries in the compendium focused on major cases concerning source restrictions, including A1 Auto Inc. & 126 Self Storage v. Sullivan in Massachusetts, several enforcements in Montana, and the recent decision in People for Pearce v. Oliver in New Mexico, allowing a federal candidate to transfer funds to a state account.  Nielsen Merksamer clients received a briefing on lessons and trends observed at the confernence and can request a copy of the compendium of campaign finance law by contacting co-author Mike Kelly at mkelly@nmgovlaw.com