Marc Elias Firm Sees Four Exits After Forcing Arbitration Deals

Prominent Democratic lawyer Marc Elias’ firm is seeing four lawyers exit after requiring employees to sign mandatory arbitration agreements.

The exits follow a Dec. 19 directive for Elias Law Group employees to sign the agreements as “a condition of employment, and receiving the 2025 compensation.” Firm Chief Operating Officer Jacqui Newman sent the directive via an email viewed by Bloomberg Law.

Three attorneys have since left the firm, while a fourth who refused to sign was told to leave, according to three people who requested anonymity to share the information. Most employees are believed to have signed the agreement by a Jan. 10 deadline, the people said.

“People involved directly and indirectly in politics often make career transitions at the end of a hard-fought election cycle,” a firm spokesperson said via email. “We wish all departing attorneys the best of luck in their future endeavors.”

Above The Law first reported the existence of the arbitration agreement on Jan. 7.

Elias has long cemented his position as a fierce legal advocate in Democratic and progressive circles, including for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. He took over Perkins Coie’s political law group in 2009 after Bob Bauer, who was President Barack Obama’s top campaign lawyer, joined the White House. Elias left Perkins Coie in August 2021 to launch the Elias Law Group, which now has nearly 100 employees, including 58 lawyers, according to the firm’s website.

A group of 42 associates and counsel at Elias’ firm responded to Newman’s Dec. 19 email with a letter warning that forced arbitration as a condition of employment makes the firm “appear out of step with Democratic Party values.”

The agreement requires lawyers and staff to arbitrate any employment disputes and waive their rights to bring class actions against the firm, according to the letter. They also include nondislcosure agreements.

Some lawmakers have sought to ban forced arbitration and curb the use of nondisclosure pacts, arguing the deals help shield corporations from liability for wrongdoing and silence victims.

Forced arbitration policies are not unusual at law firms as ways to save costs, keep spats private, and win favorable outcomes. “If you’re worried about getting sued and losing and paying money in a lawsuit, this eliminates that risk,” said Deepak Gupta, founding principal of litigation boutique Gupta Wessler, who lectures on forced arbitration at Harvard Law School.

Some firms have moved away from using the agreements because they can be unpopular with lawyers. Law students protested in front of the offices of Venable and DLA Piper in Boston and Washington in 2019 over the firms’ use of the agreements. Munger Tolles & Olsen scrapped their agreement requirement in 2018 after public backlash.

Elias worked as a top legal adviser for the Democratic National Committee until parting ways with the organization in 2023 though he continues to take a lead role in representing Democrats in campaigns and voting rights litigation. His firm’s clients include the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

The DCCC paid Elias Law Group nearly $12.7 million last year and the DSCC paid the firm more than $4.3 million, according to Federal Election Commission data. The firm made more than $33.3 million from its political work last year, FEC records show.