48 FALL 2008
JEFF BLEICH—
FINDING
COMMON
GROUND
Claire Cooper
J
eff Bleich’s connection to Barack Obama
goes back almost twenty years, to the day
when Abner Mikva, then chief judge of
the U.
S.
Court of Appeals for the District
of Columbia Circuit and...
More
48 FALL 2008
JEFF BLEICH—
FINDING
COMMON
GROUND
Claire Cooper
J
eff Bleich’s connection to Barack Obama
goes back almost twenty years, to the day
when Abner Mikva, then chief judge of
the U.
S.
Court of Appeals for the District
of Columbia Circuit and Bleich’s boss, interviewed Obama as a possible hire.
Impressed,
Mikva remarked to Bleich that Obama was
exactly the kind of clerk he wanted to recruit.
“Instead of me?” asked Bleich.
To his chagrin,
Mikva agreed.
Obama never did clerk for Mikva, but he and
Bleich, now a partner at Munger Tolles &
Olson, developed a lasting relationship.
Bleich, with Bill Orrick, founded Lawyers for
Obama before Obama announced his candidacy for president.
Bleich says he introduced
Obama around as somebody to watch.
There
can be no doubt that the photo of the two
men on display in Bleich’s office was taken
right there—Bleich’s life-size cutout of a
youthful Elvis Presley is in the shot.
Obama, of course, rocketed to prominence
with his keynote add
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