Many of the nation’s largest and most influential law firms donated more than 90% to Democrats and President Joe Biden in the last election cycle, confirming their position as one of the most liberal professions in the country.
In an extensive review of law firm political spending, including checks from lawyers and other staff, most of the top firms overwhelmingly favored the Democrats.
Sixteen gave only to Democrats. Over 60 others gave 90%-99% to Democrats. Only five of the 138 firms reviewed gave a majority of donations to Republicans.
The analysis was conducted by law professor Derek Muller of the University of Iowa College of Law. He did a similar review after the 2012 election that found Republicans and GOP candidate Mitt Romney did a little better in legal donations.
Overall in the 2017-2020 cycle, Muller counted donations from about 138 top law firms and found that checks to Democrats topped those to Republicans, $61 million to $11 million.
“Lawyers and staff at major law firms donated nearly six times more to Democrat Joe Biden than to incumbent Republican President Donald Trump in the 2020 election,” he said.
One check for $500,000 to the Trump Victory Fund accounted for a sizable chunk of the money he put in the GOP column.
“Many firms had fewer than 10% of contributions go to major Republican outlets. A handful had at least 25%, and just three crossed 50%. Even among those, the figures are deceptive. At White & Case, for instance, there was a single $500,000 contribution to the Trump Victory Fund, more than half of all Republican contributions in this four-year time period” from that firm, he wrote.
Many of the firms he listed have Washington offices, and several also house lobbying operations or government affairs practices.
