Caleb Burns Discusses Drop in Political Contributions from Legal Industry

May 18, 2021

Caleb P. Burns, partner in Wiley’s Election Law & Government Ethics Practice, provided commentary for a May 17 Law360 article about a decline in contributions from law firm political action committees (PACs) to federal GOP candidates in the first quarter of 2021. As the article noted, many corporations paused political spending in the months following the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

“I don’t think there’s a corporate PAC in America that didn’t reassess or reexamine PAC policies after January 6,” Mr. Burns said. He added that the events of that day signified the increased importance for businesses to have clear positions on social issues, in order to have a “playbook to follow the next time a political controversy erupts.”

Mr. Burns also weighed in on whether the events of January 6 may have any long-term impacts on political contributions from the business and legal industries.

“I’ve been asked, ‘When can we start giving again?’ and have replied, ‘At a minimum, get through the first 100 days of the Biden Administration. We need the temperature to come down and the political discourse to turn to policy matters,’” Mr. Burns said. “I think we’re still in that stage. The dust is still settling.”

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