Sen. Kamala Harris and her husband DLA Piper partner Douglas Emhoff, with her niece during an event to launch Harris' presidential campaign in Oakland, California, on Jan. 27. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg. Sen. Kamala Harris and her husband, DLA Piper partner Douglas Emhoff, with her niece during an event to launch Harris' presidential campaign in Oakland, California, on Jan. 27. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg.

The first two nights of the Democratic Party's presidential debates featured Kamala Harris speaking more than any candidate not named Joe Biden. The debates served as the Senator from California's biggest chance so far to introduce herself as a 2020 candidate and to win over voters.

But one of those voters is already firmly in her corner: DLA Piper's Douglas Emhoff.

More than 17 months before Election Day 2020, here are some things to know about one of three male lawyers—and the only Big Law attorney—who could become the first First Gentleman.

Douglas Emhoff is a partner at DLA Piper in Los Angeles, California. The firm's website explains that his practice involves complex business, real estate and intellectual property litigation disputes. DLA Piper describes Emhoff's clients as “large domestic and international corporations and some of today's highest profile individuals and influencers.”

Emhoff joined DLA Piper in October 2017 from Venable, where he helped develop that firm's West Coast presence. Upon making his lateral move, DLA Piper global co-chairman Roger Meltzer touted Emhoff's work on behalf of the “biggest names in Hollywood.” “[Emhoff's] arrival is an important strategic move for us not just in Southern California, but for our wider global sector capabilities,” Meltzer said in a statement at the time. Emhoff maintains offices in California and D.C.

Emhoff was involved in a prominent lawsuit over the Taco Bell Chihuahua. The Chihuhua's appearance in popular commercials begat a lawsuit from Wrench, a Michigan company that claimed they were the creators of Taco Bell's “Psycho Chihuahua.” Wrench sued Taco Bell in the late 1990s and won $42 million in 2003, which Taco Bell tried to pass along to ad agency TBWA. Emhoff represented TBWA and succeeded in preventing Taco Bell from transferring the cost to TBWA.

Emhoff reported about $1.5 million in income last year, according to an AP analysis of tax returns submitted by Harris. Emhoff and Harris wed in 2014, and the duo's effective tax rate of 37% was the highest in the 2020 Democratic presidential field in May 2019, according to a New York Times analysis. The duo posted adjusted gross joint income of $1.9 million last year, and reported that they gave an average of 1% to 3% to charity each year.

Emhoff's iPhone features artwork of four women running for president in the 2020 Democratic primary. In a tweet posted during Thursday night's debate featuring his wife, Emhoff acknowledged his iPhone has a sticker that says, “A Woman's Place is in the White House” accompanied by an image of his wife, Harris; Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota; Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York; and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

 

Speaking of Harris' competitors, Emhoff is not the only attorney in the running to be First Gentleman depending on the outcome of the 2020 Democratic primary and 2020 presidential election. Warren's husband is Bruce Mann, a Harvard Law professor. Klobuchar's husband is John Bessler, an of counsel at the Minnesota boutique Berens & Miller.