Legal News

The New Power Lawyer of the Democratic Party: Bob Bauer

By Ashby Jones

Looking for a roster of the Democratic power lawyers in Washington, D.C.? Topping the list — and possibly ending the list, it turns out — is Perkins Coie’s Bob Bauer.

According to this article from Politico, Bauer has “unmatched power in Democratic legal circles,” and has become a “top behind-the-scenes player in the president’s inner circle.” Bauer is currently wearing a lot of hats: He’s the lead outside counsel to the Democratic National Committee, the lead outside counsel to President Obama’s new political network, called Organizing for America, and continues to serve as President Obama’s lawyer in personal and political matters, such as the federal investigation of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. Seattle-based Perkins Coie, according to Politico, now “becomes the preeminent Democratic firm.” The firm already represents the Democrat’s Senate and House campaign committees.

According to Politico, the last lawyer in the nation’s capital to hold such broad power may have been Republican lawyer Ben Ginsberg. In 2000, he was counsel for the Bush-Cheney campaign and in the Florida recount, then for Bush’s effort at a post-election political network, Progress for America. But he did not serve as the top outside lawyer for the Republican National Committee at the time.

Bauer asserted that his many hats did not pose a potential conflict, because “in representing the president, his campaign organization, and the DNC, I am representing his interests as a Democratic president and leader of his party.”

A few fast facts about Bauer: He’s married to high-powered Democratic adviser Anita Dunn, graduated from UVA law school in 1976 and, like all important people these days (yes, we kid), runs a blog.

Photo: AP

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on February 03, 2009 (boomark / email).