Michael Tongour

Since his service as a senior attorney in the U.S. Senate, Mike Tongour has been retained for his expertise in the Federal legislative process by a variety of Fortune 500 companies, leading American associations, municipalities, and non-profit groups to help them formulate an achievable, bipartisan, legislative strategy and to help them successfully implement that strategy. He founded the firm in 1996 and is the Managing Partner. His career on Capitol Hill began when he served as Counsel to what is now the Senate HELP (Health, Education, Labor, Pensions) Committee. He then served as Chief Counsel/Staff Director to the Senate Republican Whip, Alan K. Simpson (R-Wy), and was also Legislative Director to Simpson’s Wyoming Senate office. In the Senate, he supervised the daily operations of the Whip’s office. His responsibilities included providing legislative information to Senators and their staff members, assisting in the traditional vote counting duties of the Whip, and helping coordinate and implement Senate floor strategy. Mr. Tongour’s legislative skills were acknowledged in the leading Congressional newspaper, Roll Call, where he was frequently included in their list of the Fabulous Fifty - Congressional Staffers With Real Power. When he moved to the private sector, Legal Times, the Washington, D.C. based journal on law and lobbying, listed him as one of the top 10 most sought after staffers to leave the Hill. Mr. Tongour is a current member and a past President of RAMS, a 150-member organization comprised of present and former Staff Directors. He has been a guest lecturer on the Federal legislative process at the Brookings Institution, American University, George Washington University, Georgetown University Law School, the International Republican Institute, and the Close Up Foundation. He serves on the University of South Carolina, Department of Political Science, National Advisory Board. He is a member of the Corporate Development Committee for the Lab School of Washington, and is a past Senior Warden and current Vestry member at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church. He is an Eagle Scout and is a volunteer for his son’s Cub Scout Pack. Besides being Managing Partner of the TCH Group, in January 2009, he was named Special Counsel to the South Carolina based law firm, Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A. , and manages that firm’s Washington office. Mr. Tongour is a native of Barnwell, South Carolina. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of South Carolina where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude. He also earned his law degree there, and was selected for membership in the legal honorary societies: Order of the Coif and the Order of the Wig and Robe. He and his wife, Lalie, have three children, Jack (8), Alec (6) , and Stella Louise (4).