Keeping It Fair

• Author: Liane Jackson
• Pages: 9-10

Opening

Statements

EDITED BY LIANE JACKSON

LIANE.JACKSON@AMERICANBAR.ORG

PHOTO COURTESY OF SANDLER REIFF LAMB ROSENSTEIN & BIRKENSTOCK

MARCH 2019 ABA JOURNAL || 9

Keeping

It Fair

CAMPAIGNS COUNT ON

POLITICAL LAWYERS

TO GET THE VOTE RIGHT

WHEN AN ELECTION IS DOWN TO THE WIRE

with razor-th in margins separating two ca n-

didates angling for vic tory, who’re you gonna

cal l?

“I am the crazy person who went to l aw

school to do exactly th is,” says election law

specialist Dar a Lindenbaum, senior coun-

sel at Sandler Rei Lamb Rosenstei n &

Birkenstock in Washington, D.C.

Lindenbaum, who most recently ser ved as

general counsel for Stace y Abrams’ Georgia

gubernatoria l campaign, is part of a small bar

of political lawyers w ho act as the fi rst line of

defense (or o ense) in the critical d ays lead-

ing up to election night and in the immed iate

aftermath.

The hotly contested 2018 midterm elections

were full of controversia l races across the

country at every level , and political lawyers

were either entrenched on campaign tea ms or

on speed dial. In Geor gia, the Abrams cam-

paign foresaw the tough battle aga inst oppo-

nent Brian Kemp, whom it ac cused of voter

suppression tactics in hi s role as Georgia’s

secretar y of state.

The campaign pre-emptively re tained a

local attorney who cou ld draft papers and go

to court. It also implemented a voter protec-

tion squad and had a litigation tea m stand-

ing by. In total, between 300 and 400 law yers

“I AM THE CRAZY

PERSON WHO WENT

TO LAW SCHOOL TO

DO EXACTLY THIS.”

—DARA LINDENBAUM