Advocacy built on policy.
Government relations and legal counsel for organizations doing serious work in Maryland — where the strength of the argument, not the size of the rolodex, moves the outcome.
Start a ConversationGovernment relations and legal counsel for organizations doing serious work in Maryland — where the strength of the argument, not the size of the rolodex, moves the outcome.
Start a ConversationThe Coale Firm is a Maryland government relations and law practice founded by Tom Coale, one of the state's most active lobbyists and a recognized authority on housing finance, land use, and economic development policy.
Tom has represented developers, technology companies, financial institutions, nonprofits, and local governments before the Maryland General Assembly, state agencies, and county bodies across the state. His practice is built on fluency in the tools that actually finance and entitle projects — LIHTC, NMTC, Opportunity Zones, TIF, C-PACE, and the full range of DHCD programs.
Tom is a graduate of Georgetown Law and a regular contributor to Maryland Matters. He lives in Howard County with his family.
Most lobbying is transactional — access traded on relationships, renewed annually, indistinguishable from the next firm's offering. We built this practice on a different premise: the best advocacy is a better argument.
Legislators don't need another handshake. They need someone who has read the fiscal note.
That means we write the amendment, not just request the meeting. We know the program manuals, the allocation formulas, and the regulatory history — because when you understand the policy better than anyone else in the room, the room listens. And it means we say no to work where we can't add that kind of value.
The result is a practice trusted on both sides of the table: by clients who need outcomes, and by the public officials who have to defend them.
We take on a limited number of clients so every engagement gets principal-level attention. Let's find out if we're the right fit.