Former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele (R), who lost a Senate bid last year to now-Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D), has joined the international law firm LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae as a partner. [IMGCAP(1)]

He said he will focus on advising corporate clients on legislative matters without directly lobbying on their behalf.

“Looking at the political landscape, I’m going to be helping our clients work through the minefields,” Steele said in an interview. “We fully anticipate there will be a number of subpoenas on the way in the next few months, and for those individuals and clients who get called to the Hill to testify, we’re going to prepare them for that.”

Steele has not ruled out a future run for office, and he is staying politically active at the helm of GOPAC, a national Republican political action committee.

Open Doors. The House task force charged with determining whether lawmakers still are capable of enforcing their own ethics rules will hold its first, and likely only, public hearing next Thursday. The eight-member panel, headed by Reps. Mike Capuano (D-Mass.) and Lamar Smith (R-Texas), will hear from former Members, scholars and reform advocates, according to a release from Capuano’s office.

The group originally had a May 1 deadline to deliver its recommendations but now looks likely to finish up later in the month.

The hearing is set for 1 p.m. on April 19 in Room 1310 of the Longworth House Office Building.

New Berth. With former Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-Tenn.) now ensconced at the Democratic Leadership Council — not to mention Merrill Lynch and Fox News — his top aide has made a safe landing of his own. Robert Sepucha, who served as Ford’s chief of staff and a senior adviser to his failed Senate bid last year, is joining the lobbying team at Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal.

— Tory Newmyer