Ryan J. Reilly January 4, 2011, 12:39 PM

Outgoing Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond (R-MO) is becoming a partner at Thompson Coburn LLP, where he’ll advise clients on issues including international trade, biotechnology, agriculture, cyberlaw and transportation, the firm said in a statement.

Bond will also consult with clients to bring economic development and job opportunities to Missouri, and he’ll work from both Missouri and Washington, D.C.

“I decided to get right to work. Thompson Coburn was the first choice for me,” Bond said in an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

While Senate rules ban outgoing senators from joining up with new employers until they are out of office, Bond said he consulted Senate Ethics Committee lawyers, who said he was off the Senate payroll and no longer a senator as of noon Monday, said the newspaper.

“As a policymaker I worked to foster business growth and economic development and I will continue that work as a lawyer at Thompson Coburn,” Bond said in a statement. “I am thrilled to join a law firm that shares the same values and interests that I do and is as respected as Thompson Coburn. I look forward to continuing my commitment to the business community and the people of Missouri as an active member of the firm.”

“Senator Bond has been a tremendous friend of the business community during his forty years of public service, and combines both legal and policymaking expertise with a deep understanding of the issues of importance to our clients,” said Thompson Coburn Chairman Tom Minogue. “He has been a tireless advocate on a range of issues that our clients in Washington and around the nation care about, focusing his efforts on topics such as international business and trade, life sciences, transportation and national security. We are honored and privileged to have him join our firm.”

Ethics, K Street, Kit Bond, Lobbyists