Legal Slice

With the November general election approaching, legal battles over ballot issues in Pennsylvania are intensifying, and large law firms are playing a major role. Both Republicans and Democrats have enlisted the help of Big Law firms to represent them in election disputes. According to Martin Black, a partner at Dechert, election law and voting rights have become significant issues over the last decade, leading larger firms to get involved in these complex public policy matters. The firm recently won a case in Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court, ruling that provisional ballots cast by voters whose mail-in ballots were defective can be counted. This case involved collaboration with the Pennsylvania ACLU and the Public Interest Law Center. On the other hand, firms like Jones Day are backing the Republican National Committee in challenging the counting of improperly dated mail-in ballots, while firms like Dentons, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, and DLA Piper represent the Democratic National Committee and other voting rights groups. The involvement of major law firms in election litigation has become more prominent since the 2020 election, as legal challenges related to voting procedures have become more frequent. Both sides are preparing for extensive litigation as the election nears, with familiar firms representing clients in these high-stakes cases.