On Friday, November 5th, RNLA honored Elliot Berke as the 2021 Republican Lawyer of the Year. Elliot is the Managing Partner of Berke Farah LLP. His diverse client base consists of federal and state elected and appointed officials, campaign committees, political parties, PACs, corporations, small businesses, trade associations, lobbying firms, public relations firms, nonprofits, artists, and musicians.

At this year’s reception, everyone from Republican House leadership to musical artists were in attendance.

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy noted about Elliot:

Elliot has been and remains one of the most trusted legal advisors to House Republicans, and it is fitting that he is being awarded Lawyer of the Year by the Republican National Lawyers Association. His imprimatur on legal and constitutional issues that uphold the rights and due process of countless members, staff and the House as an institution, along with his advice on cert petitions to the Supreme Court of the United States (including his work on remote proxy voting in the House), is a clear reflection of his always-wise counsel and how deserved he is for his work and leadership on behalf of Republican lawyers nationwide.

While accepting the award, Elliot highlighted his longtime involvement with RNLA:

Thanks to all the members of the Board and to the RNLA staff for the recognition you have shown in me today.  I am proud of this esteemed organization, and I am proud to be named RNLA Lawyer of the Year.

This organization means a lot to me – I was a board Member for over 15 years, and I think I served as every officer including two years as president.  I’ve watched us grow from a mostly DC based group to a national bar association of true relevance.

He also mentioned the important role RNLA will play moving forward in promoting the integrity of our elections:

[W]e must advance our core values in the context of what we are up against from without and, at times, even from within. We must fight for election integrity and against vote fraud – which is real – but we also must condemn actual voter intimidation and misinformation – which are also real.

We don’t support any of this and we shouldn’t be afraid to say so.  And despite what some say about there being no widespread vote fraud – vote fraud doesn’t need to be widespread to affect elections. It’s often the narrowly tailored fraud that makes the difference.

Thank you Elliot for your many years of dedication to RNLA!

To learns more about Elliot and the Republican Lawyer of the Year Award, visit RNLA’s website.