Page 28 - NYLJ Professional Excellence 2021

ATTORNEY OF THE YEAR FINALIST

BARRY BERKE

PARTNER AT KRAMER LEVIN NAFTALIS & FRANKEL

BY RYAN TARINELLI

arry Berke wasn’t getting much sleep. But really, neither The second time around, Berke’s role played out behind
were many Americans. the scenes. He assumed no public speaking role, he said.
It was late January and the nation, still reeling from Instead, Berke and others helped craft the legal arguments and
a
B devastating holiday season coronavirus surge, had the factual presentation, something aimed at tying together
been grappling with the aftermath of the violent Jan. 6 insur- Trump’s conduct and his baseless election attacks to the
rection from Donald Trump supporters. deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
In the wake of that deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, U.S. The best path forward was to treat the impeachment case
House officials tapped Berke to serve as chief impeachment like a criminal trial, Berke said. They held the equivalent of
counsel, a move that would loop him in on the second effort mock trials, he recalled.
to convict Trump in the Senate. Impeachment managers would practice presenting their
“We had a very short period of time to figure out how to sections and the impeachment team had worked to harmonize
gather all the evidence, which we were doing in real time, their presentation with the video and document evidence in
while at the same time thinking about the most effective, the case, Berke said.
powerful and dramatic way to present it to help to prove our “It was a very stressful period and I could not have done
case,” said Berke, who is now back working at Kramer Levin it without Barry Berke,” said U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, who
Naftalis & Frankel. “And I often said that we were building served as the lead impeachment manager. “And he just had
our plane while we were trying to fly it.” a marvelous sense of every dimension of the case from the
“I recall just waking up every morning as early as possible scheduling matters to the rules of evidence to the constitu-
to work,” he said. tional questions.”
In the end, the Senate acquitted Trump of inciting an insur- Besides his work on the legal presentation, Berke was
rection. Trump beat the constitutional spread for conviction, responsible for mobilizing staff and negotiating the rules of
but House impeachment managers and Berke walked away the trial with Trump’s legal team and the Senate, Raskin said.
“It was an overwhelming project that he was engaged in,
but he was completely unflappable,” Raskin said of Berke.
BERKE SAID HE’S THRILLED TO BE BACK Berke said he’s thrilled to be back at Kramer Levin. But
AT KRAMER LEVIN. BUT HE SIGNALED HE’S NOT DONE he signaled he’s not done with his work on election issues,
WITH HIS WORK ON ELECTION ISSUES, SAYING saying he’ll still represent those who he thinks are being
HE’LL STILL REPRESENT THOSE WHO HE THINKS unfairly attacked.
ARE BEING UNFAIRLY ATTACKED. Now on the other side of two Trump impeachment efforts,
Berke says he is still an optimist on American democracy.
But, he says it will still take a fight to overcome the attacks
with seven Republicans joining Democrats across the aisle on democratic norms.
to find Trump guilty. “[I hope] truth wins out and people realize that there's
Berke became a breakout star during Trump’s first impeach- some core principles that are far more important than par-
ment proceedings, gaining attention for his cross-examina- tisan politics,” he said. “That is the integrity of elections,
tion of Corey Lewandowski, the former Trump campaign the peaceful transfer of power and the health and safety of
manager. Americans.”

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26 October 2021 | Photo: Ryland West/ALM