One of the premier lobbying firms in Annapolis, Manis Canning & Associates (MCA) has been representing the interests of its clients for almost 50 years, dating back to 1974. Our team collectively has more than 100 years of experience working with legislatures, executives, and regulators in local, state and federal governments.

We provide creative, proactive government affairs, public relations, business and trade association management strategies and programs to a diverse group of clients. We conduct ourselves in a bipartisan manner and pride ourselves in our ability to build and manage effective grassroots organizations and issue-based coalitions. We believe credibility is essential to maintaining our firm's good name and the good name of our clients, and preserving that commodity is of paramount importance.

Tracy Lawless is a government affairs advisor in the firm's Pittsburgh and Harrisburg offices, where she is a member of the Public Policy and Law practice group. She concentrates her activity in health care, as well as a diverse array of clients including manufacturing and transportation. She advises companies on strategic policy development, issue management, government solutions, and advocacy at the local, state, and federal levels.

In 2000, Harris Jones founded Harris Jones & Malone, LLC. To date, she remains the first and only Black woman in the State of Maryland to own and manage a law practice with a focus in lobbying, government relations, procurement, labor negotiations, criminal defense, and administrative trial board representation at both the state and local levels. Harris Jones & Malone proudly serves municipalities and related quasi-public agencies, non-profits, and small and large business enterprises, both publicly and privately held. Currently, Harris Jones & Malone represents clients on issues concerning, but not limited to construction, energy, water, retail sales, education, transportation, public safety, healthcare, gaming, real estate, telecommunications, procurement, corporate law, state funding for public and private development projects, taxation, labor, insurance, public interest, election, and environmental law.

Due to her hard work and tireless advocacy, Harris Jones is widely regarded as a lobbyist with the ability to effect real change in the legislative process, regardless of the size of her client or the perceived power of her opponent. As a result of her successful track record, her clients have enabled her to become the first Black attorney/lobbyist to be consistently ranked in the top five earning lobbyists in Maryland following the conclusion of each legislative session since 2009.

Harris Jones has worked on high profile matters such as the repeal of Maryland's Death Penalty, the enactment of the Civil Marriage Protection Act, and in 2019, the Community Safety and Strengthening Act, which authorizes Johns Hopkins University to establish a university police department.

Among her many legislative accomplishments, Harris Jones lobbied successfully for the passage of a priority lien bill on behalf of the Community Associations Institute Maryland Legislative Action Committee (CAI), an organization representing common ownership communities. For many years, CAI had battled with financial institutions over this critical legislation. In only her second legislative session representing CAI, Harris Jones was able to facilitate an agreement and secure the votes needed to pass the bill. This law allows condominium associations to recover up to four months of association fees at the time of a foreclosure sale. Hard hit by the downturn in the housing market, association fees are vital to the financial stability of all common ownership communities.

Harris Jones is a Member of the Board of Trustees/Directors of three publicly traded companies: Industrial Logistics Properties Trust, Diversified Healthcare Trust, and TravelCenters of America, LLC. She also serves on the Board of Trustees/Directors of Everyman Theatre and Baltimore Museum of Art. In 2021, Harris Jones was listed as one of The Daily Record's Power 100. She was also recognized by Savoy Magazine as one of the Most Influential Black Corporate Directors, an international honor. In 2019 Harris Jones received the Current Leader Award from the Alliance of Black Women Attorneys of Maryland, Inc. In 2016, Harris Jones received the Friend of Dyslexia Award for Outstanding Dyslexia Advocacy and also received the Maryland Government Relations Association's Community Service Award. Since 2000, Harris Jones has earned the following honors: YWCA Greater Baltimore's Special Leader Award, The Daily Record's Leadership in Law Award, The Baltimore Sun's 50 Women to Watch in 2013, The Daily Records Maryland's Top 100 Women in 2005 and 2009, The Baltimore Business Journal's 40 under 40, The Baltimore Times' Top 25 Young Leaders to Watch, and the Maryland Coalition for Responsive Government's 21st Century Woman distinction.

Created the first a trade association of Maryland's nine Medicaid MCOs and served as Director and principal lobbyist for the MCOs who are responsible for providing health care to 1.2 million Marylanders enrolled in the Medicaid program

Provides strategic consulting and lobbying to the Maryland Hospital Association and its 64 hospitals on medical liability, tort reform, and integrated community oncology issues.

Lobbied for the passage of legislation on behalf of ZERO to Prostate Cancer making Maryland the second state in America to eliminate cost-sharing for prostate cancer screening

Named 2020 Top Lobbyist by the National Institute for Lobbying & Ethics (NILE)

One of the premier lobbying firms in Annapolis, Manis Canning & Associates (MCA) has been representing the interests of its clients for almost 50 years, dating back to 1974. Our team collectively has more than 100 years of experience working with legislatures, executives, and regulators in local, state and federal governments.

We provide creative, proactive government affairs, public relations, business and trade association management strategies and programs to a diverse group of clients. We conduct ourselves in a bipartisan manner and pride ourselves in our ability to build and manage effective grassroots organizations and issue-based coalitions. We believe credibility is essential to maintaining our firm's good name and the good name of our clients, and preserving that commodity is of paramount importance.

Thomas Tompsett, Jr. is a seasoned trial attorney and registered lobbyist who joined Harris Jones & Malone in the spring of 2017. Tompsett's reputation for honesty, coupled with a fiery competitive spirit, has made him a successful and respected attorney and advocate. Since joining HJM, Tompsett has been deeply engaged in a spectrum of public policy matters, which include, but are not limited to, business regulation and taxation, transportation, mental health, laboratory testing, domestic violence, construction law, land use and zoning, real property, and public education. As a lobbyist, Tompsett strives not only to shape sensible policy for his clients but to assist them in raising their profiles both in Annapolis and throughout the State of Maryland.

Tompsett also maintains a boutique criminal defense and administrative law practice with a manageable caseload to give the legal matters of his clients the meaningful attention they deserve. Tompsett's criminal practice areas include misdemeanor and felony charges such as driving under the influence (DUI), driving while impaired (DWI), theft, assault, controlled dangerous substance (CDS) distribution and/or possession, white-collar crimes, and homicides in every county in the State of Maryland. Analytical, yet conversational, Tompsett can convey complex legal theories in straightforward, relatable terms. For all these reasons, Tompsett is a crucial complement to Harris Jones & Malone's team of skilled and highly respected advocates.

An experienced lobbyist, Ashlie T. Bagwell joined HJM in 2013. She has served as a government relations professional in Annapolis and throughout Maryland for over 15 years. During that time, Bagwell has represented a large number of clients across a variety of industries and has worked extensively with companies and organizations headquartered and/or located in Montgomery County.