20+ years

RI State Nurses Association Excellence Award

Former Chief of Staff and Director of Policy & Legislation, Office of the Attorney General Patrick C Lynch

Former Legal Counsel to Lieutenant Governor, Charles J. Fogarty

Former Senate Parliamentarian

Former member of the Providence School Board

Former government affairs lobbyist and trial attorney for the Massachusetts Attorneys General, Scott Harshbarger and Thomas Reilly

LEONARD LOPES, ESQ.
President and Founder of The Victor Group

Leonard Lopes is the Founder and President of The Victor Group, LLC, with practice areas focused on state and local government relations and lobbying. Leonard has over two decades of governmental relations experience representing both public officials and corporate clients. He has over 25 years of experience with drafting state legislation and appearing before regulatory and legislative bodies. With his experience as a government affairs lobbyist and strategist, combined with his public, not-for-profit and private sector contacts, Leonard has emerged as a leading government affairs advisor in Rhode Island.

Prior to founding The Victor Group, Leonard was Senior Counsel at a downtown Providence law firm. In his capacity as the firm's Director of Government Affairs and Legislation, Leonard managed all aspects of the law firm's roster of corporate clients. Leonard served as the chief lobbyist and advisor for the private and public sector clients of the firm. He advocated before local and state governmental agencies, helping clients discover strategic solutions that merge legal analysis and keen knowledge of the state's legislative process.

Leonard has held senior-level management positions with the Department of the Rhode Island Attorney General and the Office of the Lieutenant Governor. Leonard served as the Chief of Staff and Director of Policy & Legislation for the Rhode Island Department of the Attorney General. In that capacity, he served as the Attorney General's senior policy advisor and liaison to all state agencies and the Rhode Island General Assembly.

Before his time at the Department of the Attorney General, Leonard served as the Legal Counsel for the Office of the Lieutenant Governor. In that capacity, Leonard represented the Lieutenant Governor in all legal matters and was a key lobbyist. During his tenure with the Lieutenant Governor's office, he was appointed the Senate Parliamentarian.

Leonard earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of Miami School of Law and his undergraduate degree in Legal Studies from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Leonard is admitted to practice law in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.

Leonard is active in many community organizations and regularly volunteers his time and talent on several non-profit boards.

Matthew T. Jerzyk serves as Legal Counsel at William A. Farrell & Associates LLC. As a registered lobbyist, he frequently represents clients before municipal and state agencies on regulatory, legal and policy matters. Matt's expertise includes budgetary matters, financial services, real estate development, education, disruptive technologies, employment matters and the pharmaceutical and telecommunications industries. He previously served as legal counsel to the Speaker of the House and Majority Leader in the Rhode Island House of Representatives. He also served as Senior Counsel to Providence Mayor Angel Taveras and helped to guide the City of Central Falls out of bankruptcy as City Solicitor. Matt is an award-winning political consultant with a track record of success with first-time and non-traditional candidates running for public office. Matt received his B.A. and graduated magna cum laude from Brown University and received his law degree from Roger Williams University School of Law. Matt's law review article "Gentrification's Third Way" was published in the Harvard Law and Policy Review.

Patricia A. Octeau serves as Senior Director at William A. Farrell & Associates LLC, representing a variety of clients before the Rhode Island General Assembly. As a registered lobbyist, she represents clients in the financial services, telecommunications, healthcare policy, information technology and workers compensation areas. She is responsible for complying with the various lobby registrations and mandatory legislative/executive lobby reports on behalf of the Firm's clients and is involved with the Firm's local and state activities at both the legislative and executive branch levels. Ms. Octeau has over 20 years of experience in the government relations and strategy arena.

Ms. Octeau is a 1980 graduate of Bryant University.

Will Farrell serves as Director of State and Municipal Affairs at William A. Farrell & Associates LLC. As a registered lobbyist, he brings a unique integrated set of government and municipal skills, representing clients before the Rhode Island General Assembly, as well as state and local regulatory agencies. His expertise encompasses the financial services, real estate development, pharmaceutical and telecommunications industries. Prior to entering the private sector, Will worked in Washington, DC for Senator Ted Kennedy, in Manhattan administering the Fulbright Scholarship on behalf of the US State Department, and more recently as Director of Municipal Affairs for Providence Mayor Angel Taveras. In addition to his lobbying practice, Will has also managed several local campaigns and ballot referendums.

Will is a 2006 graduate of Northeastern University.