Big bucks for Clinton from ‘Republican’ law firm

LAWYERS at Kirkland & Ellis, the law firm that’s home to Kenneth Starr and Bush administration official Jay Lefkowitz, have given more to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign than to all of the top Republican candidates combined.

Mr Starr, who led investigations into former President Bill Clinton over Monica Lewinsky, declined to comment.

Kirkland, based in Chicago, is one of several corporate law firms that traditionally backed Republicans but where lawyers are turning to Democratic candidates. Lawyers say the change is largely due to disenchantment with the Republican Party’s social policies and the war in Iraq.

“The Iraq war has a very significant pull on people, but it’s not just limited to that,” said Kirk Radke, a New York partner at Kirkland who is fundraising for Ms Clinton. “There’s the need for a better posture within the international community.”’

Kirkland, whose clients include Boeing Co. and Apple Inc., has given $194,601 (141,949) to the top three Democrats — Ms Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards — compared with $84,750 to Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney.

Lawyers at the firm gave 28% more to George W Bush than Al Gore in 2000 and 34% more to Mr Bush than to Democratic candidate John Kerry in 2004.

Mr Romney, ex-Massachusetts governor and co-founder of loyal Kirkland client Bain Capital LLC, found that his connections weren’t enough to push him past Ms Clinton and Mr Obama — they collected $111,950 and $82,651 at Kirkland respectively, compared to his $74,950.