Shana Tesler

Shana Tesler and Jon W. van Horne founded the Washington, DC, law firm of VHT Law PLLC in 2005. 

GrassRoots Interactive
Shana Tesler and her husband Samuel Hook were associates at the law firm Greenberg Traurig with indicted lobbyist and Republican fund-raiser Jack Abramoff.

Tesler followed Abramoff to the lobbying firm Cassidy & Associates "after he was ousted from Greenberg [in March 2004] following news reports of his questionable dealings with Indian gaming tribes.

"Tesler held several positions in the Clinton White House before joining Greenberg Traurig in 2000. She went to Cassidy & Associates in March 2004 but left at year’s end to found a two-person law firm, VHT Law, with another former Greenberg Traurig attorney," Jon W. van Horne. 

Profile
Shana Tesler "works with top officials in the Legislative and Executive Branches on behalf of clients to promote their policy agendas in Washington," according to her VHT biography.


 * "She drafts legislative language concerning client interests, and has done so on issues related to labor, education, employment, immigration, Native American sovereignty, Land-in-Trust, e-commerce, telecommunications, and appropriations. Ms. Tesler also prepares issue analyses on legislation affecting clients with regard to privacy, e-commerce, immigration, education, and employment.  Her issue-area expertise is both broad and deep, and she consistently achieves success for clients as a result.


 * "Ms. Tesler has years of experience in government relations and spent almost a decade working in the federal government and for the national Democratic Party. Ms. Tesler spent six years in large legislative practices in Washington, D.C. including her roles as Vice President at Cassidy & Associates and as an Attorney in the Government Group at Greenberg Traurig, L.L.P. ...


 * "Before joining Greenberg Traurig, Ms. Tesler worked at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as Special Assistant to the Director, Special Projects. In that role, she performed analyses of Federal Emergency Disaster Deployment policies for Region II compliance; coordinated and supervised ADD Deployment system for Region II disaster operations; and researched federal policy concerning disaster relief.


 * "Prior to her work at FEMA, Ms. Tesler held two different positions at the [Clinton] White House in the Office of the Chief of Staff and in the Office of Cabinet Affairs. In the Office of the Chief of Staff, Ms. Tesler was Staff Assistant for the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Politics, where she worked on policy and political projects of concern to the President. In the Office of Cabinet Affairs, Ms. Tesler was Federal Emergency Management Agency Liaison, coordinating Presidential disaster response and recovery with an inter-agency working group. In between her various positions at the White House, Ms. Tesler spent a year working as Director of Coordinated Scheduling, Cabinet Liaison for the National Democratic Committee (DNC). During her time at the DNC, not to mention her years at the White House, Ms. Tesler formed steadfast ties with Democratic officials across the country and at every level."

SourceWatch Resources

 * GrassRoots Interactive
 * Jack Abramoff
 * "Team Abramoff"