McKenna Long & Aldridge has landed Howard B. Dean III, the former Vermont governor, Democratic presidential candidate and, most recently, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, for its national government affairs practice.

Dean will be based in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office as an independent consultant, and will serve as a strategic adviser to its health care and energy clients, said Eric J. Tanenblatt, who heads McKenna’s national government affairs practice. “He won’t be full time, but he will be spending quite a bit of time in the Washington office,” said Tanenblatt, who has held various leadership positions in the Republican Party, including chief of staff to Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue.