U.S. Capitol in Washington. Credit: ALM

As the novel coronavirus spread and the economy tanked this spring, Uber Technologies Inc. turned to federal lobbyists for help.

At the start of the year, the ride-hailing giant already had a fleet of outside advocates in Washington, D.C., including Mayer Brown and Invariant. But on March 18, the same day the Dow Jones dropped 6% and erased nearly all Trump-era gains, Uber started a new lobbying relationship with Forbes Tate Partners.

The sole lobbying targets listed on Uber's lobbying registration form were three congressional bills promising $2 trillion in COVID-19 relief.

Uber wasn't the only California company looking for its share of coronavirus help on Capitol Hill. First-quarter disclosures show dozens of Golden State corporations, cities, transit districts, hospitals and trade groups lobbied on matters related to the pandemic.

Airbnb, whose hosts have watched their bookings evaporate, spent tens of thousands of dollars lobbying on "provisions related to individual and business relief measures." Fulcrum Public Affairs and Kountoupes Denham Carr & Reid got some of the company's lobbying work.

Lyft, Instacart and TaskRabbit lobbied for help, too, even though their workers, classified as independent contractors, would not typically qualify for unemployment assistance. Alphabet's Google, Gap Inc., PayPal and Aerojet Rocketdyne lobbied to shape the federal response.

But it wasn't just the big blue-chip companies. The Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles, currently closed to the public, lobbied on the CARES Act, which ended up including help for museums nationally. The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito sought funding for emergency rescues during the COVID-19 shutdown. Even Playboy Enterprises paid for lobbying help on "issues related to COVID-19 legislation."

Bioscience and pharmaceutical companies jumped into the lobbying frenzy, too. Kahala BioSciences, an Irvine-based COVID-19 testing company, retained Forbes-Tate on March 13. Primmune Therapeutics, a San Diego firm working on a treatment for the virus that causes COVID-19, followed suit six days later when it also hired Forbes-Tate.

Cities of all sizes, counties, transit agencies and water districts all sought a piece of the relief pie, too, the lobbying records show. The California Assembly, currently in a pandemic-driven recess, also listed "COVID Response" among its first-quarter federal lobbying targets.

Most of the California clients already had existing contracts with lobbying firms. But the novel coronavirus has been a significant source of new work for Capitol Hill lobbyists. Firms registered activity for more than 140 new clients from all states on issues related to COVID-19 between mid-March and mid-April, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Big Law lobbying practices in the top 10 by revenue last quarter each saw gains from the same period last year, according to ALM affiliate The National Law Journal. For the two revenue leaders, the year-over-year gains were substantial: 31% for Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, which pulled in $12.6 million, and 25% for Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber & Schreck, with $11.5 million.

"There was some conventional wisdom coming out from last fall that suggested during a presidential election year, everything would seize up," Brownstein partner Marc Lampkin, who leads the firm's Washington, D.C., office, told the NLJ. "Then COVID-19 comes along and deepens the attention and focus on policy makers. It certainly created an opportunity for lobbying firms and practitioners."