6-10 years

James Sherwood is a senior vice president with McGuireWoods Consulting, and counsel with McGuireWoods LLP. Prior to joining the firm, he served as deputy legal counsel and ethics officer in the Illinois House of Representatives. James assists clients on a range of issues, including data privacy and security, worker classification and the gig economy, electrification of the transportation sector and the affordable housing crisis. He also counsels clients on various tax incentive programs. Most recently, he assisted an international data center client in obtaining a tax incentive for data centers located in Illinois.

As deputy legal counsel, James advised legislators on a variety of matters, including legislation that overhauled the state's energy policies, transitioned Illinois to a statewide 9-1-1 system and dealt with the increase in heroin and opiate abuse. In his role as ethics officer, James ensured members were apprised of their duties under Illinois ethics laws and regulations, and advised members to ensure compliance therewith.

James also serves as a board member on the Public Policy Committee for the Illinois Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association.

Stephen Martinko is a government affairs counselor in the firm's Public Policy and Law practice. Martinko has extensive experience working with clients with interests in nearly all modes of transportation as well as infrastructure related innovative financing and public private partnerships. He is regularly tapped by Congress and industry groups to help develop solutions to broad sets of infrastructure related challenges and is particularly involved in emerging trends in transportation and on the intersection of transportation and technology.

Martinko has been listed as one of "five key players to watch" in transportation by Politico and as one of "Washington's next-generation power players" by National Journal. His diverse public policy and management experience includes service as executive director of the Port of Pittsburgh Commission; deputy staff director of the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (T&I Committee); chief of staff to Congressman Bill Shuster (R-PA), chairman of the T&I Committee; professional staff member for the T&I Committee Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials; and director of floor debate for former House Republican Conference Chair Deborah Pryce (R-OH). He has also advised several political campaigns and President Donald Trump's transition team.

During his distinguished career as a Congressional staff member, Martinko played an integral role in enacting major initiatives into law in nearly every mode of transportation. Among his accomplishments, Martinko was the lead staff negotiator for the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) of 2014 and served as a member of the senior strategy and negotiating team for comprehensive surface transportation authorization legislation. He also oversaw reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as well as enactment of pipeline safety, Amtrak reauthorization, and rail safety bills.

Martinko earned his B.A. from Brown University, where he played varsity football, and obtained his M.A. from the College of International Security Affairs at the National Defense University. Additionally, he serves on the organizing committee for the Congressional Flag Football for Charity and coaches the Mean Machine (Members of Congress) team that plays every other fall against the Capitol Police.

Prior to joining K&L Gates, Ms. Lowry was an associate at a global law firm where she represented public and private companies in mergers, acquisitions, strategic investments, and financings in a variety of industries including apparel, manufacturing, transportation, media, energy, life sciences, and financial services. While in law school, Ms. Lowry served as a law clerk with the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center and was a multi-year recipient of the Bryce Harlow Fellowship for public policy advocacy.

Ms. Lowry brings previous experience in policy and government relations with positions at Bank of America and U.S. Bancorp, where she also managed the employee PAC program. She began her career in Washington, D.C. as an honors paralegal at the Federal Trade Commission in the General Counsel and Congressional Relations Offices.

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Paul Costa brings extensive experience in local and state government to Maverick Strategies. He is the former State Representative for the 34th district situated in Allegheny County where he served from 1999 to 2018.

While serving as a legislator he sat on several committees including Appropriations, Liquor Control, Gaming, Policy, Rules, Tourism and Transportation. Costa also served on the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, Point Park University Board of Trustees, University of Pittsburgh Institute of Politics Board of Fellows and Eastern Area Adult Services.

In 2011 Costa was elected by his peers as Allegheny County Delegation Chair where he served until his appointment as Chairman of the Liquor Control Committee in 2013. While Chairman of the Liquor Control Committee he spearheaded several initiatives including but not limited to beer and wine modernization and consumer convenience. In addition, Costa sponsored several personal pieces of legislation such as the Film Tax Credit, 50/50 legislation which generates millions for non-profits, bills which advocate for the safety of animals, a bill which allowed for automatic granting of a CDL license upon returning home for qualified military personnel and sustainable transportation measures.

Prior to serving the 34th Legislative District, Costa spent more than 20 years working in the Allegheny County Prothonotary's office, ending as Deputy Prothonotary. Costa also served on the Wilkins Township board of commissioners for three years, serving one year as board president. Paul Costa graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Point Park University. Paul resides in Pittsburgh with his wife Kathleen. They have three children Michael, Maria, and Dante.

Distinguished Alumni Award, American University, Washington College of Law, 2014
Department of Commerce Bronze Medal (2004), Silver Medal (1997), and General Counsel (1995) awards

Board of Directors, Trade Policy Forum, 2010 to present; Vice President, 2016 to present
Member, Women in International Trade
Member, Washington International Trade Association

Prior to joining K&L Gates, Ms. Ettinger served as a senior legal and policy advisor to Senator Charles Schumer, including as Chief Counsel of the United States Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, and as Deputy Staff Director of the Joint Economic Committee.

Prior to joining the Senator's legislative team, she served as a senior legal advisor at the U.S. Department of Commerce. Ms. Ettinger advised agency officials on the interpretation and application of U.S. and foreign trade rules, supervised dispute settlement proceedings before the World Trade Organization, and represented the United States in international trade negotiations.

DAVID A. SMITH is a partner in the Princeton Public Affairs Group, is a veteran of the public affairs arena and has successfully managed public affairs campaigns impacting auto insurance, life insurance, tort reform and environmental legislative initiatives. Mr. Smith received national acclaim when he was honored with a ""Pollie Award"" by the American Association of Political Consultants and named to their United States ""Public Affairs Team of the Year." Mr. Smith was also named one of the most influential players in New Jersey's Healthcare arena by the Annual HealthSense Listing. Since 2005, Mr. Smith has been a Commissioner on the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission (nominated by the Governor for two separate four year terms and confirmed by the NJ Senate) and currently serves as an Officer on the Commission (Secretary). Mr. Smith serves on the National Board of Directors of the Public Affairs Council, and was one of the few contract lobbyists in the Country to be appointed to a National Task Force charged with creating ethical standard for lobbyists throughout the United States. Mr. Smith is a founder and member of the Board of Directors of ProtectingAmerica.org, an advocacy organization Co-chaired by James Lee Witt, former Cabinet member under President Clinton and Admiral James Loy, Deputy Director of Homeland Security under President Bush. Mr. Smith also serves as an Officer (1st Vice President) of the New Jersey Hall of Fame Foundation Board of Directors and also serves on the Executive Committee (Secretary) of The Advocacy Group (TAG). Finally, Mr. Smith serves on the Board of Directors as an officer (Treasurer) of the State Capitol Insurance Company RRG, the first professional liability company for lobbyists headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Mr. Smith has appeared on television and radio stations representing clients' interests, authored dozens of articles on politics/policy issues in New Jersey and is a frequent guest speaker/lecturer at national and state conferences, legislative hearings, meetings and seminars. He has been a consultant to statewide and legislative political campaigns and is a member of the Executive Finance Committee of the Assembly Democratic Leadership Committee as well as the New Jersey State Democratic Committee. Prior to joining the firm in 1995, Mr. Smith served as Director of Policy and Planning for the New Jersey General Assembly Democratic Office. In that capacity, Mr. Smith supervised the partisan staff of all Assembly Committees and Task Forces while serving as senior staff aide to the insurance and commerce legislative committees. He was a Director with the New Jersey Dental Association from 1985 to 1990 and served on several national and state health care and insurance advisory committees.

Mr. Smith was awarded a Master of Science in Financial Services (MSFS) Degree from the Richard D. Irwin Graduate School of The American College. He is a Graduate Fellow of the Public Affairs Institute, a three year educational program of the Public Affairs Council located in Washington, DC. Mr. Smith also graduated with a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Political Science from Gettysburg College.

Jeff Denham is a government affairs counselor in the firm's Washington, D.C. office. A member of the public policy and law practice group, he brings significant transportation and infrastructure policy, agriculture, natural resources, and energy experience to the firm.

He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives where he served four terms, from 2010 to 2018, representing California's 10th and formerly 19th districts. He was a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, where he was the chairman of the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials and the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management. He was also a member of the Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Veterans' Affairs Committees. During his eight years in Congress, Mr. Denham helped draft dozens of bills that were subsequently signed into law, such as the 2012 Veterans Skills to Jobs Act; the 2015 Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act; the 2018 ENLIST Act; and Stafford Act revisions as a part of the 2013 Sandy Recovery Improvement Act.

From 2001 to 2009, before his election to the U.S. House of Representatives, he was a member of the California State Senate, representing the 12th District of California which encompassed the counties of Monterey, San Benito, Madera, Merced, and Stanislaus. He was chairman of the Agriculture Committee and Veterans' Affairs Committee and focused on issues that included education, government waste, agriculture, and economic development.

A Staff Sergeant in the United States Air Force, he served in Operation Desert Storm with the 452nd Air Force Refueling Wing and was awarded a Meritorious Service Medal, the Kuwait Liberation Medal, and various campaign medals for combat duty. Additionally, he served in Operation Restore Hope with the 349th AMW and was awarded a second Meritorious Service Medal and various campaign medals for duty.

Mr. Denham is the Founder of Denham Plastics LLC, a full-service provider of plastic material handling solutions, in addition to owning an almond farm in California.