Paul Quinn iS the consummate Washington lawyer/lobbyist. With his silver hair and golden Rolodex, he is at home almost everywhere in the nation's capital, but particularly so in Democratic power circles.
And with Democrats back in the White House for the first time in 12 years, Mr. Quinn is at the top of his game.
Dividing his time between health care reform and banking issues, the 59-year-old lobbyist is a major reason that interstate is moving toward enactment this year.
As Fleet Financial Group's chief Washington operative, Mr. Quinn kept the issue alive in 1992, when most people in town had concluded that it was dead, perhaps for the rest of the century.
On Fleet's behalf, he helped cobble together the so-called Group of Six, a coalition of banks that joined hands with the insurance industry in an effort to secure an interstate bill that year.
In exchange for insurance industry support, the group agreed to limits on bank insurance powers an agreement that drew fire from other quarters of the industry.
When Congress adjourned in 1992 without passing legislation, the group let it be known that the old deal was off the table.
Mr. Quinn kept the pressure on, however, and his breakthrough came when Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., announced he would no longer attempt to link interstate and insurance.
Mr. Quinn grew up in Pawtucket, R.I., and attended Providence College. After a stint in the Army, he went to law school at Georgetown University. He got his first taste of Capitol Hill working for Sen. John O. Pastore, a Rhode Island Democrat.
When Sen. Claiborne Pell, D-R.I., was elected in 1960, Mr. Quinn was his first legislative assistant.
An enthusiast for all things Irish, Mr. Quinn is on the board of the American Ireland Fund and spent St. Patrick's Day at the White House this year.
Paul Quinn
Founding partner
Wilkinson, Barker, Krauer & Quinn
1735 New York Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20006
202-783-4141
