Biglaw

There Was ANOTHER Biglaw Firm Partner On The Donald Trump Call With Georgia Election Officials

Fox Rothschild partner was the elusive third of the 'attorneys that represent the president' on the transcript.

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(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

UPDATE: The firm announced that Kaufman has now left Fox Rothschild. Read the full statement below.

UPDATE 2: Kaufman provided a statement reproduced below.

In the wake of a violent takeover of Capitol Hill fueled by thoroughly debunked allegations of a “stolen” election, Donald Trump’s phone call with Georgia election officials encouraging them to “find” enough ballots to award him the state may seem like the distant past. But nope, that was just a few days ago.

Not that the call should fade from our memories. The myths that fueled the unruly mob yesterday were forged by the insistence of Donald Trump and his enablers that votes were triple-counted and that zombie Hugo Chavez is secretly running voting machines from his basement. At least four people are dead after yesterday’s assault on the Capitol and there’s a straight line from there to Trump’s election interference efforts.

Cleta Mitchell is already out at Foley & Lardner, resigning after the firm expressed its concern that Mitchell participated on a call where the President of the United States committed deftly to checking off all the requirements of an election interference charge. Mitchell blamed “leftist groups” for her resignation, so she stayed on brand until the end.

But one thing kept bugging me about the transcript of the infamous call:

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You also have the attorneys that represent the president, Kurt and Alex and Cleta Mitchell…

“Cleta Mitchell” is self-explanatory. “Kurt” is Kurt Hilbert, the Georgia attorney who is the attorney of record on Trump v. Kemp, the lawsuit that formed the basis of the now infamous “settlement negotiation” call. However, this “Alex” never spoke on the call so we didn’t get a window into who he was. But who is “Alex”? A random conservative solo trying to become the next Jenna Ellis?

No, it’s a Biglaw partner. After a few days of digging, we’ve determined that Alex B. Kaufman of Fox Rothschild was the final participant on the call.

When reached for comment, the firm stressed that “Firm policy prohibits Fox Rothschild attorneys from representing as counsel anyone participating in efforts to contest the 2020 Presidential Election” and concluded that “Kaufman did not attend the January 2 call among President Trump and others in his capacity as a Fox Rothschild attorney.”

At first blush, that statement made me fear I’d hit another dead end in my search for “Alex.” But then I parsed that last line and realized it doesn’t exactly say that he wasn’t on the call. After lobbing another request to see if the firm intended to place a period after “others” in that sentence, I received a revised statement including this line:

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Kaufman was not acting as a Fox Rothschild attorney when he was present for, but did not speak on, the January 2nd call among President Trump and others.

Well, there you have it. They almost had me!

The statement also explains that “[t]he firm does not bar its lawyers from running for public office or participating as individuals in political activities.” This “participating in political activities” language is attempting to carry a lot of weight. It tracks Mitchell’s attempt to shrug off Foley & Lardner’s concerns that she’d gone rogue by claiming that she was engaging in private political activity and not acting as a legal advisor. Despite being introduced as his lawyer and spending the whole call arguing on the president’s behalf.

When we discussed Mitchell’s situation with Foley & Lardner, we pointed out that attorneys practicing outside the aegis of their firms can raise all manner of ethical and insurance issues. To that end, Fox Rothschild notes that Kaufman already serves independently as the General Counsel for the Fulton County Republican Party and an Associate General Counsel for the Georgia Republican Party, but declares that the firm “does not represent the Fulton County Republican Party or the Georgia Republican Party in contesting the 2020 presidential election.” This wording suggests that the firm does in other situations while one of their partners is in-house for those entities.

Thus, unlike Mitchell, Kaufman seems to be acting in his capacity as counsel to the Georgia parties, which the firm seems to characterize as a political activity even if it involves acting as legal counsel. Though the call introduces him as representing Donald Trump, perhaps that was simply imprecise phrasing. In that case, presumably, acting on behalf of another entity like the state party resolves a lot of the thornier issues that Mitchell invited by offering legal advice with no other affiliation than Foley & Lardner. That said it’s hard to square the policy against “representing as counsel anyone participating in efforts to contest the 2020 Presidential Election” with “unless they’re working as in-house counsel for someone participating in efforts to contest the 2020 Presidential Election.”

Still, it’s worth noting again that the effort to undermine the election and sow the seeds of the mob that we saw yesterday has not been the sole work of dubious free agents like Rudy and Jenna Ellis. Lawyers with Biglaw pedigrees are deeply involved in this effort.

And some of those Biglaw firms are trying to have their “Firm policy prohibits Fox Rothschild attorneys from representing as counsel anyone participating in efforts to contest the 2020 Presidential Election” cake and eat it too.

Here is the final Fox Rothschild statement in full:

Firm policy prohibits Fox Rothschild attorneys from representing as counsel anyone participating in efforts to contest the 2020 Presidential Election. The firm does not bar its lawyers from running for public office or participating as individuals in political activities.

Neither Alex Kaufman nor Fox Rothschild represent the President or his campaign. Kaufman is a partner in the firm’s Atlanta office. Kaufman, in his individual capacity, is the General Counsel for the Fulton County Republican Party and an Associate General Counsel for the Georgia Republican Party. Kaufman was not acting as a Fox Rothschild attorney when he was present for, but did not speak on, the January 2nd call among President Trump and others. Fox Rothschild does not represent the Fulton County Republican Party or the Georgia Republican Party in contesting the 2020 presidential election.

UPDATE (1/7/21 7:37 p.m.) : Statement from Fox Rothschild:

Alex B. Kaufman and Robert J. Kaufman, both partners in the Atlanta office, reached a mutual agreement with Fox Rothschild LLP today to depart from the firm and pursue new professional opportunities. Alex and Robert joined Fox Rothschild in December 2019 after running their own firm since 1982.  

As you may have read in the media, Alex Kaufman was present for the January 2nd phone call among President Trump and others. Neither Alex Kaufman nor Fox Rothschild represent or have ever represented the President or his campaign.

As a national law firm, we are non-partisan, and we do not represent either President Trump or President-elect Biden.

UPDATE (1/9/21 9:40 a.m.):

Kaufman’s statement:

“My father and I have enjoyed working with Fox Rothschild over the past year, and we have worked with them to provide our clients with the highest levels of service,” Alex Kaufman said. “Before joining Fox Rothschild, I worked in our family’s law firm that my father first opened in 1982. Joining Fox Rothschild was a chance to try something different. We’ve enjoyed our time working with this great legal team, but in the end, as happens, both sides determined this was not the right fit. We will continue to service our clients’ needs moving forward with the same excellent service they’ve come to expect of us.”

Recent media stories have mentioned that Alex Kaufman took part in, but did not speak on, the Jan. 2 phone call between President Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

“I do not and have not represented President Trump, the Trump campaign, or the Secretary of State,” Kaufman said. “In my personal capacity I provide legal counsel to local Republican parties and other stake holders. I was on the call in case there was talk of a settlement agreement that impacted my responsibilities. In my view, that call did not cover issues for me to weigh in on, and therefore, I played no role in the conversation.”

“Our future will look very much like our past: We’ll continue to provide our clients with excellent legal counsel and continue our involvement in the Atlanta community.”

Earlier: Donald Trump Drags Biglaw Firm Into Middle Of Election Interference Effort
Cleta Mitchell Out At Foley & Lardner After Troubling Donald Trump Call

HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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