Porter Wright, the law firm that reportedly faced internal backlash over its involvement in Donald Trump’s election-related legal efforts, has abruptly withdrawn from one of the most significant cases the president is levying in Pennsylvania, although it continues to represent him in another case where its own partner was a witness.
The firm, based in Columbus, Ohio, with an office in Pittsburgh, filed a motion on Thursday to stop representing the Trump campaign in its effort in federal court to halt the certification of results from last week’s presidential election in Pennsylvania. Mr. Trump lost Pennsylvania to Democrat Joe Biden by a margin that currently stands at more than 58,000 votes.
“[The Trump campaign is] in the process of retaining and causing other counsel to enter an appearance herein,” lawyers for Porter Wright wrote in the motion, noting that Linda A. Kerns — a lawyer based in Philadelphia — would remain as counsel.
According to a report in The New York Times earlier this week, associates at Porter Wright said — in two meetings with the firm’s partners — that they objected to the work with Mr. Trump’s campaigns. At least one lawyer quit in protest, the paper reported. The Times cited conversations with three current and former employees.
But while Porter Wright has withdrawn from the federal case, the firm continues to represent Mr. Trump in a case in front of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court challenging ballot canvassing observations in Philadelphia in which one of their own partners is cited as a witness.
Jeremy Mercer, the Pittsburgh-based partner at Porter Wright who was cited as a witness for the Trump campaign in that case, was also at a campaign press conference in Philadelphia last week where he shared his experience observing ballot canvassing in the city, but did not disclose his firm was representing the campaign.
Transcripts from an Election Court hearing on Nov. 3 show Mr. Mercer did, upon cross-examination, identify himself to the court as an attorney for Porter Wright and confirmed that he had represented the Trump campaign in election cases earlier in 2020.
Court filings indicate Porter Wright did not become involved with Philadelphia’s ballot canvassing case until it was appealed the next day, Nov. 4.
In the federal case Porter Wright withdrew from, the complaint filed by the Trump campaign cites the Commonwealth Court case in which Mr. Mercer's testimony was used as an example of wrongdoing by Pennsylvania election officials. In that case, the campaign claimed Mr. Mercer and other observers were not allowed close enough to the ballot canvassing process to “meaningfully” observe it.
When reached, Mr. Mercer did not give any comment. In response to inquiries about Mr. Mercer’s role in the proceedings, representatives for Porter Wright only confirmed that it has withdrawn from the federal case.
“We’ve committed to the court to fulfill our obligations as required to ensure transition to substitute counsel, and so as not to cause material adverse effect on the client’s interest,” Porter Wright replied in an email. It declined to comment further.
Robert Tintner, an attorney at Fox Rothschild who handles the ethics hotline at the Pennsylvania Bar Association, said the use of a firm’s partner as witness raises some concerns but does not necessarily violate ethical rules of conduct.
“To me, it’s concerning because it raises the question about what they’re saying,” Mr. Tintner said. “If they’re relying almost exclusively on what a lawyer at the same law firm is advocating, they’re giving the other side a great argument that ... they’re wearing multiple hats because they don’t have a choice.”
“Where are all the other witnesses? Where are the other facts? Who are the neutral, non-party, non-advocate witnesses?” Mr. Tintner said.
More than anything, Mr. Tintner said, the multiple cases by the Trump campaign raised questions on if the filings represented good-faith claims or if they were frivolous and devoid of evidence.
Robert J. Tannous, the firm’s managing partner, told The Times earlier this week that Porter Wright “has a long history of representing candidates, political parties, interest groups and individuals at the local, state and federal levels on both sides of the aisle, and as a law firm will continue to do so.”
The legal filing noted that the firm and Trump campaign “reached a mutual agreement” that the president’s effort would be best served if Porter Wright withdrew.
Mr. Trump is arguing that because his poll watchers weren’t allowed meaningful observation of the vote count and because some counties allowed voters to rectify their mistaken ballots by voting provisionally or casting a corrected one, the court should stop the certification of the results — as a whole, or in cases the campaign deems were impacted by the alleged violations.
Lawyers for Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar countered on Thursday that the campaign’s claims were “mere generalized grievances” and are built upon speculative theories of harm “requiring multiple leaps of logic.” Because of that, the state should not be asked to nullify the votes of millions of voters, they argued.
Mick Stinelli: mstinelli@post-gazette.com; 412-263-1869; Twitter: @MickStinelli; Julian Routh: jrouth@post-gazette.com; 412-263-1952; Twitter @julianrouth.
First Published: November 13, 2020, 3:40 p.m.
