Former Representative Steve Rothman, after 16 years representing New Jersey, signed on with New Jersey firm Sills Cummis & Gross. He joins former NJ Supreme Court justice and NJ attorney general Peter Verniero. But Steve "hasn't forgotten how to use the Acela train" he rode up and down the East Coast for years (and the office happens to be a few hundred yards from Newark Penn Station). Steve, who got his JD from Wash U, will start a new defense practice at the firm. With the shrinking defense budget, he'll help companies who've already had a relationship with the Pentagon and startups get a fair shake in the competitive environment.

Will we someday see him back on the Hill? Short answer: No. But there is a sense of continuity about his work, he says: it's all about solving the problems of individuals and large organizations, whether that is through the government or law firms.