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I think it would be nuts for him to stay at the firm. She [Kamala Harris] would consistently be faced with the allegation that people are hiring the firm to get something out of the administration.
— Richard Painter, a former White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, offering his thoughts on whether Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, should remain at DLA Piper during his wife’s time in office. Painted suggested that while Emhoff could take a salary from the firm without sharing in any of its profits, the optics would still be poor. Emhoff took a temporary leave of absence from the Biglaw firm in August, but representatives from neither the firm nor the Biden campaign have advised on what Emhoff plans to do.
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.