Campaign season is in full swing, including at law firm conference rooms across America.

Several major firms or their partners have hosted campaign events or fundraisers for presidential candidates this year. Ranging from nonpartisan Q&A sessions to large fundraisers, the events show presidential candidates are looking to elite firms, not just for legal services, but for exposure, an audience, contacts and—to be sure—fundraising.

While such events are a regular feature of the election cycle, they can sometimes stir controversy. Kamala Harris was scrutinized this week for a Chicago fundraiser hosted earlier by six partners at Kirkland & Ellis—the same law firm that once defended the financier accused of sexual abuse, Jeffrey Epstein. She has recently said that Epstein's previous plea deal, secured by his lawyers at Kirkland & Ellis, “calls into question the integrity of our legal system.”

The Associated Press reported that her decision to move ahead with the fundraiser hosted by Kirkland partners while criticizing the firm “underscores the tension that can arise when a politician's rhetoric collides with his or her need to raise money.”

Harris' campaign paid Kirkland about $2,500 in May for event catering, according to campaign finance records released this week.

Other firms hosting candidate say their events are not designed for fundraising.

Milbank says it launched a “presidential candidate town hall series” in April inviting candidates from both parties to the firm's New York offices to speak to the firm's attorneys and answer questions “for an unfiltered discussion.”

Milbank says it's a nonpartisan, law firm-hosted event in which there are no expectations of donations. The events are for Milbank personnel, while some law firm clients have been invited.

Milbank's Scott Edelman, left, with Governor John Hickenlooper. 

So far the firm has already hosted or scheduled Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Sen. Cory Booker, former secretary Julián Castro, former Gov. John Hickenlooper, Congressman Eric Swalwell (who has since dropped out of the race), Congressman Seth Moulton, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, former Gov. Bill Weld and former Congressman John Delaney.

The events are not fundraisers, said Milbank chairman Scott Edelman, though he acknowledged some attendees may have been inspired to contribute to candidates or have made contacts at the event. (Indeed, campaign finance records show some Milbank attorney donations to presidential candidates who have been invited, but it's not clear whether the donations are connected to the events.)

For candidates, he said, the purpose of the event “is to get exposed to our community.” The events have ranged in attendance from 50 to 120 people at Milbank. Attorneys in other offices have watched by video conference.

And for Milbank's purposes, “our lawyers think it's a great, interesting opportunity to get to see these presidential candidates live. It's exciting to have them here, it's a great use of our new space and it's part of building a community where there's activity and intellectual process going on, on a daily basis. It's not just a place where you come and go to work—presidential candidates come to the office,” Edelman said. “It's been universally well received.”

Edelman said all presidential candidates will eventually be invited, including President Donald Trump. “Whether or not he'll come to the firm, I can't tell you,” he added. While some candidates have not yet accepted an invite, no candidate has rejected an invite so far, he said.

At the events, the candidate, first introduced by a partner, gives a speech and then answers questions. For instance, Milbank attorneys have asked candidates about immigration, Supreme Court issues, foreign policy and guns, Edelman said. “I asked one of the candidates who had a bunch of plans for the country how he expected to pay for them, whether taxes, or through other cuts,” Edelman said.

“It's been a pretty dynamic conversation about some of the key issues,” he added.

The firm says the series will continue through the rest of the 2020 presidential primary season. The firm's next town hall event is scheduled after Labor Day.

Fundraising Flurry

While Milbank is far from alone in hosting presidential candidates, other law firms' events this year have been focused much more squarely on fundraising.

Brad Karp, the chairman of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, hosted a reception for Joe Biden last month, according to a New York Times report, while serving as a co-host for a “lawyer's lunch” for Harris on the same day.

Campaign finance records show dozens of Paul Weiss attorneys donating to Harris over the course of several days in February. Similarly, campaign records show groups of Paul Weiss attorneys donating to Booker in February and March and a flurry of donations for Gillibrand in February and March.

It's not only Big Law hosting presidential candidates. Jim Walden, a name partner at prominent New York boutique Walden Macht & Haran, said the firm's lawyers are “proud supporters of Senator Gillibrand and believe it is high time for a woman with her qualities to occupy the White House as more than First Lady.”

The firm hosted Gillibrand on June 5. Guests could meet with the senator “over drinks as she answers your questions about her presidential campaign,” according to an invitation to the event, which was hosted by the law firm's women's initiative.

The invite added in bold lettering: Contribution Suggested.

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