BOSTON — Former Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown announced Monday he had landed a new job with an international law firm but did not rule out a future run for political office in Massachusetts.

Brown, who was defeated in his re-election bid last year and eschewed an opportunity to run in a special election this year to fill the Senate seat formerly held by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, will serve as counsel in the Boston office of Nixon Peabody LLP.

The firm said Brown would be involved in business and governmental affairs, with a focus on the financial services industry and commercial real estate.

Brown’s news conference was his first since he opted not to run in the June 25 Senate special election. He said he would not endorse or comment on any of the three Republicans running for the seat, but planned to play a role in the campaign after the April 30 primary.

Former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan, state Rep. Daniel Winslow and businessman Gabriel Gomez are seeking the Republican nomination. U.S. Reps. Stephen Lynch and Edward Markey are the Democratic candidates.

Of his own decision not to run, Brown said he believed he would have had a “better than reasonable chance of winning,” but did not relish the prospect of raising what he estimated to be $30 to $50 million in campaign funds for the race.

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Brown is also viewed as a potential candidate for governor of Massachusetts in 2014.

“I’m not going to focus on my political future,” Brown said. “It was the greatest honor that I ever had to be a United States senator and represent the people of Massachusetts.”

“I’m not quite sure what the future holds,” he added.

In the meantime, Brown said Nixon Peabody would allow him the flexibility to continue as a commentator for Fox News Channel — a role he started last month — and make speaking engagements around the country.

Brown is prohibited by federal rules from lobbying for two years after leaving the Senate, but told reporters he didn’t plan on doing any of that at Nixon Peabody, saying he would help clients navigate the “jungle of Washington politics and letting them know maybe a better way, or a different way, of doing things.”

Andrew Glincher, chief executive of Nixon Peabody, called Brown a “problem solver.”

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Brown won a special election in January 2010 to fill the seat of the late Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy, but was defeated in November by Democrat Elizabeth Warren. His relationship with the financial services industry became a key point of contention during the last campaign.

Brown cast a key vote in favor of the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill in 2010, but was later accused by Warren and other Democrats of working behind the scenes to weaken the law. That led some critics to deride him as Wall Street’s “favorite senator.”

Among Nixon Peabody’s clients in 2012 was Goldman Sachs, which paid the firm $140,000 for lobbying services, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Brown received financial support from members of Nixon Peabody during his failed re-election campaign. Nine attorneys and partners contributed a total of $3,750 to Brown’s campaign during the 2011-2012 election cycle.

The firm has about 700 attorneys in the U.S., Europe and Asia.


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