Venable offices in Washington, D.C. Oct. 24, 2014. Photo by Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

Daris Meeks is returning to Venable after serving less than one year with Vice President Mike Pence.

Meeks will rejoin Venable's legislative and government affairs practice, where he was a partner from 2014 until he joined Pence's staff at the beginning of 2017.

Meeks left the firm to serve as Pence's domestic policy adviser, where Pence's office said he was responsible for building a policy shop to advance President Donald Trump's agenda through Congress. In January 2018, Pence's office said that Meeks and Pence's chief counsel Mark Paoletta were leaving the vice president's team. Paoletta moved to the Office of Management and Budget.

According to his federal government disclosure from last year, Meeks' past clients at Venable have included General Electric Co., S&P Global Inc., Lloyds America Inc., Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. and the Clearing House Association.

Before his first tour at the firm and his time with Pence, Meeks worked as a senior adviser to House Financial Services Committee chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, who advanced efforts to pull back the post-financial crisis Dodd-Frank legislation and reform the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Former U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Arkansas, who leads Venable's legislative and government affairs practice said the firm was “thrilled” to have Meeks back.

Meeks' return adds a high-profile Republican to a firm stocked with influential Democrats. Venable counts more than 20 registered lobbyists in its ranks, including many that are influential in Democratic Party circles. Some have a long history working in Democratic politics—such as partner Tom Quinn, who advised the presidential campaigns of former Vice President Hubert Humphrey and former Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy—while others are campaign newcomers, such as former Venable chairman Jim Shea who is running as a Democrat in Maryland's gubernatorial race.