Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg greeting audience members after his appearance on a Democratic debate stage. Photo: Shutterstock.com

As Super Tuesday nears, for some lawyers, it's not all about the fundraising anymore.

Support for Bloomberg's less than 4-month-old campaign is picking up steam among Big Law partners, a bloc that tends to support moderate candidates. And while that support traditionally means maxing out contributions and holding fundraisers, Bloomberg's self-funded campaign means his supporters have to turn to different approaches.

Some have joined a constituency group within the Bloomberg campaign—Lawyers for Mike Bloomberg—which was mobilized a little more than a month ago, his campaign said. The group now has about 1,000 lawyers, the campaign said, and has held 10 events across the country, including in law firm offices, to motivate lawyers to support Bloomberg and to ask their colleagues to vote for him too.

Some Big Law leaders such as Brad Karp, chairman of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, have come out in support of the billionaire former New York City mayor, holding an event for him and praising his credentials as a business leader and politician in a statement to The American Lawyer.

"As a law firm, we have been more actively involved this election cycle than ever before, given the existential issues at stake in November. Personally, I have worked with various candidates and campaigns, lending counsel and support. I have been quite involved with the Bloomberg campaign of late, having long been a fan of Mike's pragmatic approach to getting things, big things, done," Karp said.

Karp has donated a total of $23,100 in the past year, according to Federal Election Commission data, supporting several moderate Democratic candidates, including Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker, Joe Biden and Amy Klobuchar. He contributed the most to Sen. Kamala Harris, donating thousands to her campaign before she dropped out.

He isn't the only Big Law leader to hold an event for Bloomberg. According to an online invitation, Craig Martin, chairman of Jenner & Block, and several Jenner partners hosted a mid-February event for Bloomberg in its downtown Chicago office. The event featured a "campaign briefing" from campaign surrogates Mayor Steve Benjamin of Columbia, South Carolina, and Kimberly Peeler-Allen, co-chairwoman of the Higher Heights for America Political Action Committee, an organization which galvanizes black women voters.

Martin was not available for comment.

But outside of hosting events, many longtime Democratic bundlers are scratching their heads on how to show support for Bloomberg, whose nearly $500 million campaign is entirely self-funded.

"I'm primarily used to helping campaigns financially," said Ira Leesfield, a prominent Florida plaintiff attorney and former Hillary Clinton surrogate who has donated $18,400 to various Democratic candidates and committees in the past year, according to data from the FEC.

"The other people I know who are used to being financial supporters are having to learn to convert our abilities toward votes and turnout," he added.

As for what that looks like, Leesfield says he has a cache of Bloomberg swag: campaign shirts, buttons and yard signs, and a sizable Rolodex for sending out pro-Bloomberg email blasts. Bloomberg's "Mike 2020" sign is also displayed on the digital sign in front of his firm, which lines U.S. 1 in Miami, one of the city's busiest roads.

Organizing support

The Lawyers for Mike Bloomberg group is unique among Bloomberg's constituency groups. There's not one for accountants or other professional service groups. (There is, however, a Scientists for Mike, a campaign staff member said.) The hundreds of lawyers in the group include partners and associates at big firms, small firms, in-house lawyers, law professors and government attorneys, the campaign said.

A Mike Bloomberg campaign sign is displayed in front of the office of attorney Ira Leesfield in Miami. (Photo courtesy of Ira Leesfield.)

At group events, a Bloomberg campaign official gives a briefing on what's happening in the election and how lawyers can help. If lawyers agree to be part of the group, the campaign asks them to get their friends and colleagues to support Bloomberg.

Laura Ross, a Bloomberg supporter and a retired attorney who was chief of staff to New York Attorney General Robert Abrams, attended one event where there were more than 200 people at a firm's office, she said.  "I thought it showed that a lot of lawyers were behind him," she said in an interview. "He's data-driven, he's rational, he doesn't have a lot of pie-in-the-sky ideas."

Some lawyers supporting Bloomberg have peeled away from supporting former Vice President Joe Biden and other moderate candidates such as former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Klobuchar. Biden still has considerable support within the bar, with lawyers and lobbyists making up one of Biden's top donor industries.

While Leesfield, the Florida plaintiffs attorney, said he still has great respect for Biden, he feels that the lifetime senator and former vice president doesn't have enough gas in the tank to mount a winning campaign. Recent results in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada reinforce his view, he said. "I just think he is a little worn," Leesfield said.

Decisions, Decisions

Still, some lawyers—just like segments of the general population—are frustrated with Bloomberg. They privately cited his debate performances, use of nondisclosure agreements with some women, and his stop-and-frisk program in New York City as sources of disagreement with the candidate.

But many partners at big defense firms are reluctant to get behind Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, partly because of the anticipated pushback from financial services and corporate clients. Warren herself has proposed expanding "criminal liability to any corporate executive who negligently oversees a giant company," a proposition that would make general counsel and corporate boards bristle. 

As for Sanders, the Cuban American Bar Association wrote a forceful statement denouncing his statements in a "60 Minutes" interview where he said "it's unfair to simply say everything is bad" about Fidel Castro's regime while also denouncing the late communist leader as an authoritarian.

"The senator's comments are inaccurate and devoid of crucial context," CABA President and Holland & Knight partner Frances De La Guardia wrote on Wednesday. "Tyranny is tyranny—without qualification."

With Sanders as the current front-runner, some Democratic lawyers are paying more attention to congressional races as a way to thwart Trump in the White House.

Mitchell Berger, co-chairman of the Florida-based midsize firm Berger Singerman, has not thrown his weight behind any single Democratic presidential candidate but spoke highly of candidates in other elections, especially Sara Gideon, who is running against incumbent GOP Sen. Susan Collins in Maine. Berger has donated nearly $52,000 to several Democratic candidates and committees since 2019, according to FEC data.

"I've met with some of these down-ballot candidates," Berger said. "They're a terrific group from my point of view, right from the center-left party I've been a part of my entire life."

Regardless, Leesfield and Berger said they would support the Democratic nominee even if it were Sanders. Berger in particular fears what another four years of Trump would mean for the rule of law, in addition to climate change, an issue Berger sees as the preeminent threat facing the world.

"Even if we might disagree with [candidates] on certain things," Berger said. "We need somebody who can replace the candidate and reinstate the rule of law."