First, I looked at 140 law firms. I divided them into two groups. The first are the AmLaw 100. The second is a group of 40 companies that correspond to the applicant firms NLJ500 or Legal 500. (Two companies appear in both lists, Paul Weiss and Quinn Emanuel.) The aid demonstrates the challenge Big Law faces in withholding campaign contributions in a U.S. political system that rewards monetary donations as a method of influencing public policy. [4] The term “lawyer or law firm” includes a political action committee or other body owned or controlled by a lawyer or law firm. The results of the 40 complainant firms are below (asterisks indicate second list): [5] Political contributions are used to obtain or be considered for a legal commitment by the state or an appointment by a judge if the lawyer or law firm does not wish to be considered for the legal commitment or appointment, would not have paid or requested the contributions. The purpose may be determined by a review of the circumstances in which contributions are made. For example, one or more contributions which, taken together, are significant in relation to other contributions from lawyers or law firms, would be made for the benefit of an official who is in a position to influence the award of a public legal contract and followed by an award of the legal contract to the contributing or advertising lawyer or law firm would lead to the conclusion that: that the purpose of the contributions was to obtain the order, there are no other factors militating against the existence of the prohibited purpose. These factors may include, but are not limited to, whether the contribution or solicitation was made to promote a political, social or economic interest or as a result of an existing personal, family or professional relationship with a candidate. Karen Sloan covers law firms, law schools and the economics of law.
karen.sloan@thomsonreuters.com This election cycle, at least 30 law firms — from Am Law 200 firms to Texas stores — donated more than $624,000 to the six Republican and Democratic candidates vying for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general who will be on the ballot in November. [2] The term “political contribution” means any gift, draw, loan, advance or deposit of value made directly or indirectly to a candidate, an incumbent president, a political party or a campaign committee for the purpose of influencing or financially supporting the election or the maintenance in judicial or governmental office. Political contributions to own-initiative and referendum elections are not included. For the purposes of this Article, the term “political contribution” does not include services provided free of charge. Among the ten companies that have given the most money in gross dollars to the Democratic media (see update below): Beyond the AAJ, there is a constellation of large law firms (or “biglaw”) whose employees collectively give hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democrats in each election cycle. Most, but not all, of that money ends up in the pockets of the more moderate wing of the party (Joe Biden`s campaign was a major beneficiary of legal money in the 2020 primaries), which is not surprising given that the personal and professional inclinations of most lawyers go to the side of the establishment. And because lawyers often get into election politics, much of the legal industry`s donations are personal, with corporate employees supporting members of Congress who were once their employees. Many companies had less than 10% of donations to mainstream Republican media.
A handful had at least 25 percent, and only three crossed 50 percent. Even among these, the numbers are misleading. At White & Case, for example, there was a single $500,000 contribution to the Trump Victory Fund, more than half of all Republican contributions during that four-year period. Muller also analyzed the political contributions of lawyers and employees of 40 large plaintiff firms and found that only two had given Trump more money from 2017 to 2020 than Biden — The Lanier Law Firm and Kasowitz Benson Torres, who represented Trump`s campaign.
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