Sen. Kamala Harris and her husband, DLA Piper partner Douglas Emhoff, attend a campaign event in Wilmington, Delaware, in August. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
"Mr. Emhoff is working with the Biden-Harris transition team to develop the portfolio he will focus on to support the work of the administration," the campaign spokesperson said.
According to the campaign, Emhoff has been on a leave of absence from DLA Piper "and completely focused on supporting the Biden-Harris campaign" since Harris joined the presidential ticket in August. She and President-elect Joe Biden claimed victory on Nov. 7 after several major media outlets projected that they had secured enough electoral votes to win the election.
Emhoff joined DLA Piper in 2017 after leaving his position as head of Venable LLP's Los Angeles office. He is a member of the Beverly Hills, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., bar associations, according to his DLA Piper profile.
Harris and Emhoff have been married since 2014, when Harris was California Attorney General. She was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2017 and ran for president, but dropped out of the race last December.
"We congratulate Sen. Harris and our partner Doug Emhoff on this historic accomplishment," a spokesperson for DLA Piper told Law360. "We look forward to working with Doug to transition his practice within the firm as he prepares to take on his new role, and we wish him all the best."
The move comes as Emhoff seeks to focus on his duties as second gentleman and avoid potential conflicts of interest, the campaign spokesperson said.
DLA Piper has a wide-ranging client portfolio, which includes companies in litigation with the federal government. The firm has also lobbied for clients including Qatari-funded media company Al Jazeera, the Association of Banks in Lebanon and The Coca-Cola Co., according to OpenSecrets.org.
Larry Noble, a former longtime general counsel for the Federal Election Commission, told Law360 that standard ethics rules don't apply to the president or vice president. "However, the norm is that they follow them" to avoid bad optics, he said.
"If he continued to work at the firm I think that would create a lot of appearance issues," Noble added. "It would present more problems than I think it's worth if they're serious about appearing as an ethical administration."
--Editing by Alanna Weissman.
Correction: An earlier version of this story mischaracterized the ownership of Al Jazeera. The error has been corrected.
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