Lawyers / Professionals

Mr. Berke's 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, trade associations, nonprofits and individuals. He represents clients before congressional ethics and oversight committees, the FEC, the DOJ, and federal and state departments and agencies.

Prior to entering private practice full time, Mr. Berke served as the general counsel of a Fortune magazine rated top government relations firm. As the firm's chief legal advisor, he oversaw compliance with federal and state laws, workplace legal issues, and worked with outside counsels on litigation in federal court.

He served as in-house counsel and ethics advisor to the two most senior members of House leadership. As counsel to the Office of the Speaker and general counsel to the Office of the House Majority Leader, he advised and counseled on ethics and compliance for the speaker and the leader, and their staffs. In the three years he worked in House leadership, he implemented procedures to ensure compliance with House rules and standards of conduct, consulted with campaign and PAC officials, conducted internal reviews, and worked closely with outside counsel to ensure that the individual legal needs of parties, including campaigns, individuals and nonprofits, were respected.

During his service for House leadership, Mr. Berke also served as a staff representative on the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG), which represents the leadership on matters including speech or debate immunity and separation of powers. His tenure coincided with a notably active period of federal investigation into issues related to members and congressional staff, and his counsel was consistently sought out by the House general counsel on how to best respect the interests of the House. He provided counsel on the constitutionality of numerous pieces of legislation over the course of three Congresses, and offered advice on the issuance of committee subpoenas. He also served as the principal policy advisor on homeland security, judiciary, tort reform and campaign finance issues, including on the Class Action Fairness Act and the reauthorizations of the PATRIOT Act and the Voting Rights Act.

Mr. Berke's ethics and compliance experience on Capitol Hill was preceded by similar experience within the executive branch. As special counsel to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), he oversaw complex and sensitive legal issues for the department. He also advised the Office of the Secretary on questions of ethics, including scheduling issues and FOIA requests. Prior to his service at HUD, he served as a senior associate independent counsel on the Whitewater and Lewinsky investigations. Mr. Berke began his legal career as an investigative counsel for Senate and House oversight committees.