By Kevin McCauley
Qorvis has picked up a $92K per-month litigation communications contract from Stanley Rowe, special counsel to Cairo-based EZZ Industries, Matt Lauer, partner of the firm told O'Dwyer's.
The D.C.-based firm is to assist Rowe "regarding judicial matters and promoting a transparent judicial system in Egypt."
Ezz |
That effort comes in the aftermath of the arrest of Ahmed Ezz, owner of the steel and ceramics combine, following the forced resignation of Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak. The business tycoon is a dear friend of Hosni's son, Gamal.
According to Qorvis' contract, it has crafted a six-point action plan that includes 1) Congressional relations to communicate the need for Egypt to create an acceptable constitution and legal frame; 2) State Dept. and House engagement, which is handled by former State staffer Greg Lagana; 3) Internet and social media campaign to “ensure that all communications nodes on the Internet are fully populated with information that encourages rule of law and transparency; 4) media relations spearheaded by Sam Dealey, former editor of the Washington Times; 5) ally development and 5) legal coordination with lawyers in Egypt and the U.K. Rowe is based in Paris.
The Washington Times has been the No. 1 U.S. advocate of Ezz. It reported March 15 that his detention is "raising new fears that those who prospered under the regime of Hosni Mubarak will face revolutionary justice despite the West's hope that Egypt will emerge as a democracy."
The Times reported the Ezz's daughter, Afaf, penned a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton worrying that the arrest of prominent businesspeople “are merely show trials used to appease the public's anger.” The Times frets that the jailing of Ezz “could signal an uglier phase of the Egyptian revolution, and criticized the Egyptian press for portraying him as “one of the chief enemies of the recent revolution.”
At Qorvis, Laurer is partner-in-charge of international and sovereign strategies and public diplomacy. He was the State Dept.'s executive director of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy.
Qorvis represents Middle East hotspots such as Saudi Arabia (since 9/11), embattled governments of Bahrain and Yemen (via Britain's Bell Pottinger) and the Kurdistan section of Iraq. |