By David Thomas and Mike Scarcella

Jan 23 (Reuters) - (Legal Fee Tracker is a weekly feature focused on attorney compensation. Please send tips or suggestions to D.Thomas@thomsonreuters.com)

Disclosures by President Donald Trump's U.S. Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi and her former lobbying firm offer a peek into her finances, and at how Ballard Partners' fortunes have grown as Trump's political revival gained steam.

Bondi reported earning $1.06 million from the Tallahassee-founded firm, where she was a partner and represented the Florida Sheriff’s Association and Major County Sheriffs of America.

She also recorded $203,738 in income working as a lawyer with Fort Lauderdale law firm Panza, Maurer, & Maynard, according to her federal disclosure this month to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. She listed pharma giant Pfizer as a past client.

Bondi disclosed she made $520,000 in consulting fees from the America First Policy Institute, a Trump-aligned think tank. The group's website lists her as chair of its Center for Litigation and co-chair of its Center for Law and Justice.

Financial disclosures are mandatory for many top federal officials, whose earnings from law firms, lobbying offices and other employers are otherwise typically not public.

Nominees are required to record their income from the start of the prior calendar year to the date of their ethics filing. The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a Jan. 29 vote on Bondi's nomination.

A spokesperson for the Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ballard Partners opened its Washington office in 2017 following Trump's first election victory. Its president Brian Ballard was a top Florida fundraiser for Republican candidates, including Trump in 2016.

In the weeks since the election, Ballard has registered new lobbying clients including Bayer U.S., Paramount Global, Ripple Labs, Anti-Defamation League, Chevron U.S.A. and Harvard College, a Reuters review of disclosures showed.

Ballard earned at least $19 million in federal lobbying revenue in 2024, according to Senate lobbying disclosure reports. It was the firm's best year since 2020, when it earned $24.15 million, according to the non-profit group OpenSecrets, which compiles lobbying records.

Justin Sayfie, the co-chair of Ballard's media group, said he could not confirm the revenue figures but said they were "in the ballpark."

-- Another Trump cabinet nominee, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said in an ethics filing on Wednesday that he would retain legal fees he earned from litigation that does not directly impact the U.S. government if he is confirmed as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Kennedy said he earns 10 percent of fees awarded in contingency cases he refers to plaintiffs firm Wisner Baum. Kennedy in another filing reported at least $857,000 in referral fees from Wisner Baum, without disclosing specific cases.

Kennedy played a key role in organizing mass litigation against Merck over its human papillomavirus shot Gardasil. Wisner Baum's Michael Baum is one of the main lawyers suing Merck. Kennedy and Baum did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters on Wednesday. Merck declined to comment.

Kennedy also has collaborated with the Los Angeles-founded firm on litigation over Monsanto's weed killer Roundup.

The disclosure filing also showed $8.8 million in partnership profits for Kennedy from law firm Kennedy & Madonna, which was renamed on Jan. 13 to Madonna & Madonna. He also said he has worked with personal injury litigation giant Morgan & Morgan on contingency matters.

-- Several firms disclosed their 2024 lobbying revenues this week, with two of the largest reporting their biggest lobbying earnings ever.

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, which often leads the pack in lobbying earnings, reported $67.7 million in total lobbying revenue for 2024, an 8% increase over last year. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld reported $56.6 million, a 3.5% increase.

G. Hunter Bates, the co-leader of Akin's lobbying and public policy practice, attributed the firm's record performance in part to the year-end legislative push in the capitol.

Akin also signed onto at least two dozen new lobbying engagements since November, which Bates called a "direct result" of Trump's victory over Democrat Kamala Harris and Republicans taking control of both chambers of Congress.

Lobbyists in Washington are required to report revenue tied to the federal government each quarter under the Lobbying Disclosure Act.

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(Reporting by David Thomas and Mike Scarcella)

((Mike.Scarcella@thomsonreuters.com;))