Law Firms and Lawyers at Top of Donor List for Obama and Romney

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Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, raised more money than President Barack Obama for the second consecutive month. The numbers were released earlier this week by both campaigns. In June, Romney raised $106 million and Obama raised $71 million. In the month of May, Romney raised $77 million and Obama raised $60 million. This was the first time that Romney raised more money than Obama in the campaign.

Some of the top donors for both campaigns continue to be lawyers and law firms. The Romney campaign has raised $5.2 million and the Obama campaign has raised $12.4 million as of June 21, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Law firms and lawyers rank third among the top donors by industry for the Romney campaign. Law firms and lawyers rank second for top donors to the Obama campaign. Among Romney’s top 20 contributors by organization, Kirkland & Ellis is the only law firm on the Romney list. The firm has donated $264,302 from its PAC and individual employees and their families.

  

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Law firms have figured into the campaign contributions for Obama more so than for Romney as Obama has six law firms on his top 20 contributors list by organization. The law firms who have donated to the Obama campaign from their PACs and employees include the following:

?DLA Piper: $306,727

? Sidley Austin: $257,296

?Skadden Arps: $169,753

?Morgan & Morgan: $135,145

?WilmerHale: $117,661

? Kirkland & Ellis: $113,770

Obama has received the majority of his campaign money from lawyers, who are the largest bundlers of money compared to any other organization. Bundlers are defined as people who solicit and bundle money from family, friends and associates after they have reached their individual contribution limit. The president’s re-election bid has received $22.4 million from lawyers and law firms who have bundled money. The industry that came in second for Obama was securities and investments, which bundled $14.5 million.

There have been 532 individuals who have bundled contributions for the president, of which 128 of them are lawyers. This comes out to one in four people. The lawyers work at major law firms such as Blank Rome, Winston & Strawn, DLA Piper, Sidley Austin, Greenberg Traurig, Bracewell & Giuliani and O’Melveny & Myers.

Regulations from the Federal Election Commission require that candidates release the names of bundlers who are registered lobbyists. The Obama re-election campaign decided to release the names of all bundlers who raised more than $50,000. The Romney campaign has only disclosed bundlers who are registered lobbyists. There are 25 registered lobbyists bundling for Romney, of which five work at major law firms such as Barnes & Thornburg, DLA Piper, Dow Lohnes and Fagre Baker Daniels.