This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Jan. 4, 2011 - Retiring Sen. Christopher S. "Kit" Bond says his new career with a St. Louis-based law firm will have him doing a lot of the same work he used to do -- only now he'll work for private clients, not the residents of Missouri.
The long-time GOP politician, who is leaving the Senate after four terms, was introduced Tuesday as the newest partner of the Thompson Coburn law firm, ranked as the largest in the St. Louis area by number of local attorneys.
Bond, 71, will be working primarily out of the firm's offices in St. Louis and Washington, chairman Tom Minogue said, bringing the knowledge and experience he gained during his years in government to help clients in a variety of areas, including international trade, biotechnology, transportation, agriculture and cyberlaw.
"He brings a unique blend of policy-making expertise and legal expertise," Minogue said at a news conference at the firm's downtown headquarters, noting that Bond had graduated at the top of his class from the University of Virginia law school in 1963 and clerked for a federal appeals court before returning to Missouri.
Serving two terms as governor before being elected to the Senate in 1986, Bond said his entire career as an elected official has been dedicated to helping foster economic growth and produce jobs. The relationships he has built, particularly overseas, will help him continue that work with what he called a "common sense" approach, he said, and Thompson Coburn is a good place to do it.
"When I started looking for places where I might serve," he said, "Thompson Coburn was clearly the one. I found its approach to serving clients much like my approach to serving the state of Missouri."
Among Bond's big interests has been helping Missouri companies increase trade with China. He noted that he would be traveling to Washington on Wednesday to meet with Chinese officials on behalf of clients.
"I think that is a tremendous opportunity," he said, "and I will be looking to see how I can help them."
Minogue added that adding a former member of the Senate is a "wonderful shot in the arm" for the firm, giving its culture an added perspective.
"When we bring in someone like Sen. Bond," he said, "we find that clients are very interested in what he has to say from a political perspective."
Asked about whether Thompson Coburn had a reputation in the past for being a Democratic firm, since the late Thomas F. Eagleton worked there after leaving the Senate and former Rep. Richard Gephardt also had ties there, Minogue laughed and noted that the firm has 200 partners and many more opinions politically.
"We have always been a bipartisan firm," he said.
Bond noted that legally, he is forbidden from contacting his former congressional colleagues for two years for business reasons. But, he said, that kind of activity was not what he had in mind anyway.
"I joined this firm to be a lawyer, not a lobbyist," Bond said. "I do not plan on becoming involved with lobbying Congress."
So he won't be in touch with his former Senate brethren at all?
"If I see them on the street, I'll say hi, but that's all."
Will he miss being a member of the Senate?
"I was deeply honored to be Missouri's youngest senator," Bond said, echoing remarks he made when he announced his retirement, "but I had no aspirations to be its oldest senator. It was time for me to go."
On the topic of hyperpartisanship in Washington -- which Bond made the theme of his farewell address to the Senate last month -- he said:
"It takes two to play nice, and I hope the most recent election explained it to some folks who did not want to reach across the aisle."
Bond said he would be maintaining his homes in Mexico, Mo., and Washington but had no plans to buy another one in the St. Louis area. Asked why, at his age, he didn't want to just kick back and take it easy -- would he miss the excitement of his political life, did he need the money -- Bond responded:
"My wife told me she'd marry me for better or for worse but not for lunch."