Postscript: Former Rep. Patterson Adjusting to Life as Lawyer, Lobbyist

When Jerry Patterson visited the offices of two California congressmen recently for a client of his law firm, he was “somewhat bewildered and embarrassed,” he recalled.

“I thought about how I used to be on the other side, with people coming to my office in the House to see me. But you know, I’ve found that it’s kind of fun. I’ll always cherish my 10 years in Congress. It would be nice to still be there, but it’s also nice not to be there.”

Former Rep. Patterson, a Democrat, speaks enthusiastically about his new job as a lawyer and lobbyist with the Washington, D.C., law firm of Leff & Mason.

“I’m more independent now, I can go where and when I please, I have more money and a little more privacy. If you don’t show up at a Washington cocktail party, you’re not offending people as much as before,” he said. “It’s a little easier to turn something down.”

His election loss six months ago to Robert K. Dornan in the 38th Congressional District was “like a death in the family,” Patterson said, and he went through a long period of depression.

‘Feelings of Despair’

“I’m glad I shared my feelings of despair at the time with other people. It wasn’t easy, but it helped. I wish more people, particularly men, would learn to do the same thing,” he said.

As a lobbyist, Patterson works with some people who were campaign donors but who are now his paying clients. Instead of representing them as a congressman, he now pleads their cases to the federal government as a private citizen, albeit one with an unusually high degree of access to his former colleagues.

For example, Patterson recently represented Newport Beach-based Pacific Mutual, a life insurance company, before congressional committees to argue against proposed income taxes on the cash value of insurance policies, among other insurance issues.

Walter Gerken, Pacific Mutual’s chairman, helped raise money for Patterson’s congressional races.

Patterson, 50, also has represented former officials of the defunct Bank of Irvine before federal banking authorities to “help tie up the loose ends.”

In April, Orange County supervisors hired Leff & Mason to represent the county in Washington. Great Western Savings and Loan also is one of Patterson’s clients.

“I keep them advised about legislation that affects them,” said the former member of the House Banking and Currency Committee.

“It helps that I’m a former member of the committee because I was there when some of the laws affecting these companies were written, and I understand the changes as they’re proposed,” Patterson said.

Living in Same Home

Other clients, he said, are confidential. “I’m not sure they would want me to talk about them in public,” he said.

As for home life, Patterson and his wife, Sally, have kept the same suburban Virginia house they had during his congressional career.

“Sally is busy working for a San Francisco firm that does public opinion surveys and market analysis; we have a daughter nearby in college and a teen-age son living with us, and we’re just super,” Patterson said.

As for a comeback bid in 1986, Patterson said, “I just don’t know. I know that some people say the best time to challenge a new congressman is right after he’s been elected, but Dornan is a special case. It’s not that he’s entrenched. It’s that he can raise $2 million or more nationally for almost anything he wants to run for. . . . I or anybody else could do well with that amount of money, but I’m not sure it’s there.”

Patterson said he expects to decide by next January.

Just in case, he and his wife have decided to keep their Santa Ana condominium, located a block from his former district office in the federal building.