Former Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) is joining the lobbying firm Alston & Bird after suffering defeat in his bid for reelection in the 2010 midterms.

Pomeroy is slated to join the firm’s health care group where his eighteen years of service on the House Ways & Means Committee will come in handy. Pomeroy served on the Ways & Means Committee’s Health Subcommittee. The health care sector was the third biggest contributor to Pomeroy’s elections providing $1.6 million since 1992.

Alston & Bird boasts a number of former government officials on its health care unit including former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, former Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Tom Scully, and a number of other executive and legislative branch staffers.

The firm’s health group boasted a wide range of clients in 2010 including Aetna, American Hospital Association, Generic Pharmaceutical Association, HealthSouth Corp, Merck, and Novo Nordisck among many others.

Joining Pomeroy at Alston & Bird is his chief of staff of nearly 20 years Bob Siggins.

Departing House lawmakers and senior staff members are subject to certain restrictions on lobbying. House members, like Pomeroy, are forbidden from lobbying any lawmaker, member, or employee of either chamber of Congress for one year. Senior staffers, like Siggins, are forbidden from lobbying their former office. In this case, Siggins’ former office does not exist, so he is not subject to any post-employment lobbying restrictions.