Close Ties To Ehrlich Lucrative For Lawyer

Both men said there are instances in which they both attended meetings with lawmakers or other state officials. For example, Hamilton client Barletta Willis LLC has controversial plans to develop Baltimore County's Sparrows Point Shipyard as a liquid natural gas terminal and has sought state money to help clean up pollution there and dredge the waters offshore.

"Barletta asked David if he would help them get state assistance to improve the property with brownfields funds and dredging," Pitcher said. "He told them, 'You should retain our lobbyist, and we can all work together.' "

And they did. Hamilton and Pitcher met with Sen. Norman R. Stone Jr. (D-Baltimore County), who represents the community, and with Sen. Edward J. Kasemeyer (D-Baltimore County), who oversees the capital budget.

"One day, he just walked into my office, he and Bill Pitcher, and said the old Baltimore dry dock needs to be up and operating and he was trying to figure out how to get some state funding to help that company," Kasemeyer recalled. "He [Hamilton] wanted to know if there was anything I could do to get some help for the company, if there were state funds available."

Hamilton said all this is consistent with the state's lobbying rules. "Bill engages in the sort of dialogue that meets the definition of lobbying under the state statute; I am there to explain legal issues surrounding the client," he said.

Hamilton also approached officials in Baltimore County to get help softening opposition to the liquid natural gas facility, Stone said.

The team of Hamilton and Pitcher also did extensive work for BAA, an airport developer that sought a $130 million state contract to run retail operations at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. The battle was hard-fought. The existing contractor, HMSHost Corp., argued that the specifications were drawn up in such a manner that only BAA could win.

Pitcher said he was assisting BAA with the procurement and brought in Hamilton to help with legal issues. The two met with members of the Legislative Black Caucus worried about the fate of African Americans who had contracts with HMSHost, Pitcher said. And together they went to the March 2004 Board of Public Works meeting at which Ehrlich cast the deciding vote to give BAA the contract.

This February, when executives from BAA's British parent company came to Maryland, Hamilton helped arrange a meeting with Ehrlich at the governor's mansion.

Hamilton said his actions should in no way be construed as lobbying. He says that's why he brought Pitcher along.

"My take on it is, I don't know how lobbyists do their business," he said. "That's why we hire them."