SACRAMENTO—WPP public affairs firm Dewey Square Group, has opened a new Sacramento office and added Jim Hawley, former senior vice president and general counsel for TechNet, as principal and California practice leader. In addition, Cassie Gilson, principal at Gilson Government Strategies, will become a strategic partner of the firm.

An attorney and public policy veteran, Hawley has spent the past 11 years at TechNet, a leading voice for the technology industry, where he built the organization’s multi-state advocacy program and shaped public policies on privacy, electronic commerce, advanced energy, broadband deployment, education, and employment law. Previously, he served as legislative director and associate counsel for former House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt.

Gilson is a registered lobbyist and attorney with extensive expertise in energy, land development, consumer products and other business issues at both the state and local levels. Her government experience includes serving as senior policy advisor to Governor Gray Davis and on the legal staff of the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the White House.

The Sacramento office will also serve as home to DSG’s national social innovation and philanthropy practice led by senior principal Margaret Lyons.