Trevor Potter is a member in Caplin & Drysdale's Washington, D.C. office, where he leads the firm's Political Law Practice. He is one of the country's best-known and most experienced campaign and election lawyers, and a former Commissioner and Chairman of the Federal Election Commission.
Services
Mr. Potter is a leading authority on lobbying regulation, government ethics and campaign finance issues. He is nationally recognized for his experience in designing compliance programs, responding to campaign finance investigations, and questions concerning lobbying registration and disclosure and federal and state ethics rules. He advises corporations, nonprofit organizations, and candidates on structuring new political efforts and administering their political, lobbying, and issue-advocacy projects.
Highlights
Mr. Potter served as General Counsel to John McCain 2008 and 2000 presidential campaigns. He also served as Deputy General Counsel to the George H.W. Bush 1988 campaign. He is the founding President and General Counsel of the Campaign Legal Center, a Washington, D.C. based nonprofit which focuses on campaign finance issues in the courts and before the FEC. Mr. Potter now represents Stephen Colbert and his SuperPAC and 501C-4. He advises Mr. Colbert on campaign finance issues on The Colbert Report.
Professional Activities
- Non-resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution
- Frequent guest speaker at a variety of professional meetings and has taught campaign finance law at the University of Virginia School of Law and Oxford University
- Testified before Congress on federal election proposals and campaign finance regulation and has served as an expert witness on election law issues in court
- Co Chair of the ABA Task Force on Lobbying Regulation
- Co-Chair of the Election Law Committee of the American Bar Association's Administrative Law Section, and Co-Chair of the Advisory Committee of the Standing Committee on Election Law of the ABA
Awards & Honors
- Ranked as a Top Lawyer in Political Law in the 2009-2011 editions of Chambers USA: 2011 -- Band 2 in Political Law -- Nationwide
- Described by the American Bar Association Journal as "hands-down one of the top lawyers in the country on the delicate intersection of politics, law and money"
- Listed as one of Washington's Best Lawyers by Washingtonian magazine in the 2007, 2009 and 2011-2012 editions, and was recognized as a "Super Lawyer" by DC's Super Lawyers magazine in 2008 and 2009
- Listed in the 2011-12 editions of The Best Lawyers in America in Government Relations Law
- Listed in Washingtonian magazine's Top Lawyers in the 2009 and 2011-2012 editions
Recent Media
- Op-Ed by Trevor Potter: Five Myths About Super PACs, Challenging Everything You Think You Know, The Washington Post (April 13, 2012)
- Colbert Super PAC-501c4 Disclosure, Colbert Nation (April 3, 2012)
- Payday Lender Political Donors Hidden in Corporate Names, Bloomberg News (March 21, 2012)
- 2012 Political TV: Ads, Lies and Videotape, NPR (February 24, 2012)
- Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert, The Daily Show With Jon Stewart (January 17, 2012)
- Colbert Super PAC Coordination Resolution With Jon Stewart, Colbert Nation (January 12, 2012)
- Super PACs Buy Time to Keep Secrets, The Associated Press (January 7, 2012)
- How Many Stephen Colberts Are There?, The New York Times (January 4, 2012)
For a comprehensive list of Mr. Potter's mentions in the media, please click here.
Recent Publications
- Federal Campaign Finance Law: a Primer, The Lobbying Manual, ABA (Fourth Edition, 2011)
- Political Activity, Lobbying Laws and Gift Rules Guide, West Publishing (Third Edition 2008, Second Edition 1999)
- The New Campaign Finance Sourcebook, Brookings Institution (2005)
- Federal Election Law and the Internet, Brookings Institution (2000)