Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Feb. 5, 2019. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

More than 50 lawyers backing Kamala Harris' presidential campaign, including many from Big Law and top donors, have organized a new effort to boost fundraising for her campaign and bring attention to the candidate.

The lawyers' group is aiming to raise at least $100,000 by the end of the month to help the California U.S. senator as she turns her attention to the early voting states in the presidential election, said Jon Henes, a Kirkland & Ellis partner who is helping to lead the group and is a member of Harris' national finance committee. Laraine Rothenberg, a retired partner of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson who remains of counsel at the firm, is also helping to lead the effort.

The group is called, at least for now, the National Lawyers Council for Kamala, said Henes. A campaign spokeswoman, Lily Adams, confirmed the campaign-designated group Tuesday.

The group had its first meeting a couple of weeks ago in New York with about 25 lawyers from about 10 firms, including Kirkland; Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; Weil, Gotshal & Manges; Sullivan & Cromwell; Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan; Boies Schiller Flexner; and Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, Henes said.

Since the initial meeting, lawyers have met in Los Angeles, including with the candidate's husband, DLA Piper partner Douglas Emhoff. They are planning to meet next in Chicago and other cities for a nationwide effort, Henes said.

"She is very focused on the early voting states in getting her name out there and her agenda out there, and we want to be supportive of that," he said.

The group's other goals are to attract younger lawyers and associates to the campaign and bring attention to Harris' message and advantages in the election.

"Lawyers focus on really complex issues that need to get resolved one way or another. Sometimes through strength or negotiation, we're used to going and building collations within litigation or transactions to get to a result," Henes said. "What I think a lot of lawyers see in Kamala is that she's all about getting to results."

Most of the group's lawyers are from large firms, but the group is seeking participation from all  sorts of attorneys, including those in boutiques and in house legal departments, he said. "We're building a nationwide and diverse network of lawyers," Henes said.

Harris' relationship with Big Law was also in the news this week thanks to allegations lodged against one of her husband's partners at DLA Piper.

A lawyer representing DLA partner Vanina Guerrero, who just days earlier accused a senior DLA partner of sexual assault, released a letter to Harris on Monday. Guerrero's attorney, Jeanne Christensen at Wigdor, cited the California U.S. senator's past public opposition to forced arbitration and asked her to use her high-profile pulpit to speak out against the firm's policy.

When asked for comment, Henes directed The American Lawyer to the campaign's comment in some news reports. "Senator Harris has been and continues to be a staunch advocate for survivors and believes all people must be guaranteed their day in court," the campaign said. "She has long opposed forced arbitration agreements and that position has not changed and she does not believe this is any exception."

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