March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Retiring Senate leader to join law firm

WASHINGTON — Retiring Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell of Maine plans to join one of the District of Columbia’s largest and best-connected law firms, Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.

Mitchell has been much sought-after by law firms and corporations since announcing his retirement and has been mentioned frequently as a potential Major League Baseball commissioner. According to a close friend, Mitchell still has “a genuine interest” in that post, and joining Verner, Liipfert would not preclude a later move to that job.

The 150-lawyer firm he is joining has a long Democratic pedigree and close ties to the retiring Senate leader.

Firm chairman Berl Bernhard goes back more than 30 years with Mitchell, much of it in the service of former Secretary of State Edmund Muskie, of Maine. Bernhard and Mitchell held top jobs with Muskie when he was Hubert H. Humphrey’s running mate in 1968 and in his brief 1972 presidential bid. Another firm partner, Harry McPherson, who was White House counsel to President Lyndon B. Johnson, is also close to Mitchell, sources said.

Mitchell could not be reached for comment Friday.

Mitchell will hold the title “special counsel” to the firm and will be able to mold whatever type of practice he chooses, according to sources. The firm, which has large litigation, trade and lobbying practices, is likely to try to capitalize on Mitchell’s corporate and international contacts. As a former prosecutor and judge, Mitchell also brings trial experience.


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