The Biglaw Partner Who Protected Your Right To Vote Starts His Own Boutique Firm

Dude is bringing democracy assistance to the U.S. like a new oil deposit was found.

Above the Law’s 2020 Lawyer of the Year Marc Elias is leaving Perkins Coie after 28 years to start his own firm focusing on preserving democracy in the United States. I don’t know if this counts as a lateral move, but it looks like some folks would have rather he’d maintained billables at his former firm and chain.

It’s not surprising considering Elias’s laundry list of accolades, including but not limited to representing:

  • The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee;
  • Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee;
  • National Democratic Redistricting Committee;
  • Priorities USA;
  • Senate Majority PAC; and
  • Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign in 2020.

According to Bloomberg Law, Elias isn’t spinning off alone:

Elias is taking 13 lawyers, including 10 partners, with him from Perkins Coie, according to a statement released by the massive law firm Sunday. The move will allow the new Elias Law Group to “engage more directly in the political and electoral process,” Perkins Coie said in the statement.

Given his record, it’s no surprise Elias skipped right over a starting five and into an Oceans 13. The Perkins Coie political practice will carry on, and work with the new firm on voting rights cases, but it looks like a lot of the overtly Democratic Party work will be moving off the Perkins Coie books. Am Law has a comment from Elias on his big career move:

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“The formation of Elias Law Group will allow us to more fully engage in representing our clients in the political process at this unique moment in history,” Elias said in a statement. “I look forward to continuing to work with Perkins Coie and want to thank the firm and its leadership for understanding and supporting us for the past decades and in this next step in our evolution.”

Given all he did while still working for the firm, I’m curious to find out what he’s capable of without, err, differences of opinion amongst colleagues. Guess we’ll find out September 2nd!

Democrat Elections Lawyer Elias Leaves Perkins Coie, Starts Firm [Bloomberg Law]
Star Democratic Party Attorney Marc Elias Is Leaving Perkins Coie to Spin Off New Firm [American Lawyer]


Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. Before that, he wrote columns for an online magazine named The Muse Collaborative under the pen name Knehmo. He endured the great state of Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com.

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