Veteran commercial litigator David Gersch shifted into a new role at Arnold & Porter last year: extending the firm’s long tradition of high-profile pro bono work. Just three months later, he was leading a team of 19 firm lawyers into a politically charged fight to protect voter rights in Pennsylvania.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and other advocacy groups in the state approached the firm’s Washington office in March for help challenging a new law requiring voters to show photo ID at the polls. If it stood, as many as 1 million eligible voters could be kept from voting in the November general elections.”It was exactly the kind of case we wanted,” Gersch said. “It was a case where you needed a lot of resources because of what had to be done and the amount of time we had.”
