Obama had made a name for himself at Harvard, where he was the first African American president of the law review. That accomplishment generated press accounts and prompted Judson Miner, head of the firm that bears his name, to recruit Obama. Obama took time to complete "Dreams From My Father," then joined the 13-attorney firm.
"He was doing the work that any first-year or second-year associate would do," Miner said. "In litigation, he was doing basic research and writing memos. . . . In the first couple years he would play a very minor role. He wouldn't know [much], so he would take the lead from whoever was supervising his work."
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Tuesday, April 08, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 53 words Type of Material: Correction
Obama's law career: An article in Sunday's Section A about Sen. Barack Obama's career as a lawyer said he was hired as a junior lawyer at the firm then known as Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Gallard and now known as Miner, Barnhill & Gallard. The correct spelling of the final surname is Galland.
He did have some noteworthy cases. Among them, Obama filed a major 1995 suit that successfully forced Illinois to enforce the 1993 federal Motor Voter law, which sought to make it easier for people to register to vote.
Obama took what Miner called the "laboring oar" on some cases. He took the lead arguing a 1994 case before the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of a securities trader who had been improperly fired. The court ruled for his client.
"This is a central part of his life and story," said David Axelrod, Obama's chief campaign strategist. "He could have written his ticket at any law firm in the country. . . . He decided instead that he wanted to be a civil rights attorney, and he signed up with a small firm that had a reputation for doing this kind of work."
People who knew Obama in the early 1990s said he made it clear that he aspired to run for public office. For that, the firm, now called Miner, Barnhill & Gallard, was a good place to start.
The firm has been a force in Chicago politics. Carol Moseley Braun, one of Obama's predecessors in the U.S. Senate from Illinois, briefly worked there.
Miner was counsel to the late Chicago Mayor Harold Washington. Allison Davis, a co-founder of the firm who since has left, is a major Chicago developer.
Miner, Davis and other partners and clients have been a regular source of campaign money for Obama, giving him $100,000 over the years. Miner said he organized fundraisers for Obama's first state Senate run, his 2000 congressional campaign and his 2004 U.S. Senate race.
Davis, who could not be reached for comment, has been a partner with other Chicago developers who also are clients of the firm and are Obama backers. One Davis partner was Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a major Obama patron who is now on trial in a federal public corruption case.
