About

Elliot S. Berke has been described by Legal Times as a “power broker” and “no stranger to politically charged investigations,” and has been profiled by ABAJournal as a member of the “D.C. Power Web.”  His practice focuses on the intersection of politics and the law.  His client base consists of elected and appointed officials, campaign committees, political parties, PACs, lobbying firms, corporations, small businesses, non-profits, and individuals.  Elliot’s practice includes representations before congressional ethics and oversight committees, the FEC, and federal and state departments and agencies.

Prior to entering private practice, his public service career included tenures with two prominent House and Senate oversight committees, a federal prosecutor’s office investigating public corruption, a federal department as special counsel, and the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Some specific highlights of Elliot Berke’s career include:

• Conducting ethics training for the House Republican Conference.
• Serving as counsel to elected officials and their campaign committees, including members of the House leadership.
• Serving as compliance counsel on lobbying issues for major corporations and lobbying firms.
• Representing an Assistant Secretary on an internal departmental investigation.
• Representing individuals in political corruption, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and Office of Special Counsel investigations.
• Representing the NRCC on campaign finance and operational issues.
• Representing campaign committees and PACs before the FEC.
• Representing the deputy director of a federal agency on recusal and conflict of interest issues.
• Representing the Administrator of the Justice Department’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and DOJ’s Office of Inspector General.
• Representing non-profit organizations on operational and tax-exempt issues.
• Representing the Director of the Western Regional Center of the RMC Research Corporation before House and Senate Education Committee investigations into the Reading First program under the No Child Left Behind Act.
• Serving as counsel of record for amicus brief in United States v. Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2113 before the Supreme Court of the United States filed on behalf of former senior congressional staff in successful support of institutional considerations of the Constitution’s Speech or Debate clause and separation of powers.
• Representing the Chief Operating Officer of the Barbour Griffith & Rogers lobbying firm in deposition testimony in Schaghticoke Tribal Nation v. Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary of the Interior, Et Al in federal court.
• Representing Speaker J. Dennis Hastert before the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct’s Investigation of Allegations Related to Improper Conduct Involving Members and Current or Former House Pages.
• Representing Majority Leader Tom DeLay before the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct’s Investigation of Certain Allegations Related to Voting on the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 and before the District Attorney in Travis County, Texas.
• Serving as the national HUD representative to the Predatory Lending Task Force.
• Serving on the briefing team before the Supreme Court of the United States in United States v. Hubbell and National Archives and Record Administration v. Favish.
• Serving as Counsel to Senator Collins during the Impeachment Trial of President Clinton.