Lawyers who think that the Justice Department's recent surge in Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) enforcement might apply to their clients—but not to them—may be in for an unpleasant surprise. Recently released Justice Department advisory opinions and guidance and recent enforcement actions illustrate, with clarity, its view that a broad swath of activities that are commonly facets of contemporary legal strategies in fact require lawyers and law firms to register under FARA. They paint, in stark relief, the critical need for lawyers to be attuned to ways in which ordinary client engagements may have FARA implications.

While likely surprising to many of us, these developments align quite neatly with broader FARA enforcement trends. The Justice Department's focus on clandestine foreign influence on the American public is presently at an all-time high. And its principal tool for monitoring such influence is FARA: a capacious World War II-era statute, enacted at a time when lawyers were lawyers, reporters were reporters, and Madison Avenue was the hegemonic vehicle for influencing Americans.

Today, by contrast, lawyers' advocacy on behalf of clients is not limited to the courtroom or the boardroom. Far from it. Indeed, public and government relations activities are, in many cases, critical aspects of competent client representation. At the same time, the proliferation of online media and social media outlets—and the concomitant proliferation of communications firms to interface with the digital world—has generated a complex interweaving of legal and communications strategies. So, effective client advocacy in this landscape often entails guiding and supervising of a broad array of legal and legal-adjunct activities.