Berke Is Back: Impeachment Attorney Returns to Firm's Litigation Department
After a yearlong leave of absence, Berke will co-lead the litigation department again at Kramer Levin.
February 19, 2020 at 09:58 AM
3 minute read
Barry Berke, the white-collar defense lawyer who advised House Democrats in their effort to remove President Donald Trump from office, has returned to Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, the firm said Wednesday.
The announcement comes just over a year after the House Judiciary Committee's Democratic majority said that it had brought on Berke and famed Washington, D.C., ethics lawyer Norm Eisen to advise on the impeachment fight. The firm said Berke will resume his role as co-chairman of Kramer Levin's litigation department.
Berke won plaudits from Democrats and some media observers when he occasionally entered the limelight, such as when he suggested that Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski had lied in a combative round of questioning. He also drew criticism from Republicans, who argued that his firm's previous work for the Trump Organization meant that he was conflicted.
The New York Times described Berke as an "architect" of the impeachment push, saying he had a hand in drafting subpoenas, questions and the articles of impeachment that the House passed in December. Trump was ultimately acquitted by the Republican-held Senate earlier in February.
During the impeachment inquiry, Berke took a leave of absence from Kramer Levin. Berke, a former federal public defender who has been at Kramer Levin since the 1990s and has co-chaired its litigation department since 2013, said in a statement that he was glad to be back. The firm's leaders also hailed his return.
"Barry demonstrated his extraordinary skills as a trial lawyer in presenting a complex set of facts to the American people during the historic impeachment proceedings," said Paul Schoeman, a co-managing partner at Kramer Levin who also co-chairs its white-collar group. "I am delighted that Barry will once again be using his enormous talent and energy on behalf of our clients."
Berke is known for having taken on a number of high-profile political and finance-industry representations over the years. He represented New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in several criminal probes and helped a former Deutsche Bank broker who was implicated in a tax-fraud case win a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan.
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