Why It Matters
Motley Rice LLC has retained Ballard Partners LLC for lobbying work covering law enforcement, crime, and criminal justice. Ballard Partners filed a registration amendment on Monday, July 27, listing four lobbyists on the account: Brian Ballard, the firm's president, and partners Micah Ketchel, Scott Wagner, and Justin Sayfie. Ketchel served six years as chief of staff to Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL), from 2019 to 2025.
By The Numbers
The registration amendment reports no lobbying income, a standard entry for a registration document rather than a quarterly activity report. Two separate filings from the same client-registrant pair each report $60,000 in income for quarter two of 2026, and an amendment signed July 27. Ballard Partners collected $33.02 million in lobbying revenue over the past quarter across 399 active clients.
Broader Context
The quarter two of 2026 filings spell out the agenda: advocacy on federal policy, programs, and executive actions supporting U.S. victims of crimes committed by designated drug cartels, some of whom are designated as foreign terrorist organizations. No legislation was identified in any of the three filings, which points the work toward executive branch policy and designation decisions rather than the legislative calendar. Motley Rice is a plaintiffs' firm best known for mass-tort and complex civil litigation.
Bottom Line
Formalizing a four-lobbyist roster while the account is already producing quarterly income signals a client settling in rather than testing the waters. With no bills identified and the issue text pointed squarely at executive actions and designations, the measure of this engagement will be administrative. Motley Rice's clients appear to be betting they can gain standing and remedies through the Trump administration's designation policy, not whether a bill moves through Congress.
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