Harris presidential campaign finds legal world booster in Paul Weiss firm

[August 12, 2024]  By Jody Godoy and Karen Freifeld

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign to win the White House is getting a huge boost from Paul Weiss, a white shoe law firm with deep links to the Democratic Party.

A favorite of Big Tech and Wall Street, Paul Weiss employees have donated more to Democratic candidates this election cycle than any other law firm. A partner from the firm has also helped Harris prepare for debates, while Chairman Brad Karp is rallying other lawyers around the vice president.

Last week, Karp launched a fundraising effort for Harris in the legal community, reaching out to nearly 300 corporate lawyers, some of whom had supported her 2020 presidential bid. More than half of the lawyers on the email, seen by Reuters, work at Paul Weiss.

Relationships between law firms and political candidates -- particularly a candidate like Harris who is herself a lawyer -- are nothing new. But advocacy groups are concerned that funders with corporate ties could wield outsized influence, shifting Harris away from policies under President Joe Biden that have chafed the business community.

"There is definitely a concern that the revolving door between the Democratic Party and Big Law serves the interests of not only the politicians but clients of the revolving-door officials," said Jeff Hauser, founder of the Revolving Door Project.
 

Karen Dunn -- who co-leads the firm's litigation group and is part of Harris' debate prep team, according to sources familiar with preparations -- is the lead lawyer for Alphabet's Google at an antitrust trial scheduled to start on Sept. 9, the day before Harris' first debate with former President Donald Trump.

Dunn has served as an associate White House counsel for then-President Barack Obama, and helped him, Harris, and Hillary Clinton prepare for past debates. She has also represented Apple and Uber.

Paul Weiss lawyers and staff have given at least $1.4 million to Democrats in the 2024 election cycle, the most of any law firm tracked by OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan research group that analyzes campaign finance records.

Donations from lawyers and legal industry employees this election cycle have largely gone to Biden, whose campaign Harris took over in mid-July. The Biden campaign received at least $14.5 million, while Trump has received at least $2.5 million, according to OpenSecrets.

Karp, who has been the firm's chairman since 2008, was among Biden's top fundraisers in 2020, after fundraising for Harris during the Democratic nominating contests that Biden won.

U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event with Democratic vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, at the United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 900 in Wayne, Michigan, U.S., August 8, 2024. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo

Karp's relationship with Harris goes back about a decade.

He and Paul Weiss represented Citigroup in 2014, when it was among the banks being investigated by state and federal authorities -- including Harris, then California's attorney general -- over mortgage-backed securities.

"I came away from that experience enormously impressed by her intellect, tenacity and creativity, and have supported her political efforts since," Karp told Reuters.

He's now working with other law firm and business leaders to raise funds for Harris, and recruiting lawyers to address potential election law issues in what he sees as the most consequential election in recent history.

Karp also serves on the board of a nonprofit that furnishes the vice presidential residence.

Several other partners at the firm support Harris' candidacy.

Former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, former U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag, former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson -- all Paul Weiss partners -- are among former Democratic officials who have publicly endorsed her.

Jo-Ellen Pozner, who teaches ethics at Santa Clara University's Leavey School of Business, said lawyers have a vested interest in the stability of the legal system. At the same time, donors wield influence.

"Donors definitely are looking for relationships that they can call in," she said.

(Reporting by Jody Godoy and Karen Freifeld in New York; additional reporting by Nandita Bose; editing by Chris Sanders and Jonathan Oatis)

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