July 31 (Bloomberg) -- Lawyers at Kirkland & Ellis, the law firm that's home to Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr and Bush administration official Jay Lefkowitz, have given more to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign than to all of the top Republican candidates combined.

Kirkland, based in Chicago, is one of several corporate law firms that traditionally backed Republicans where lawyers are turning to Democratic candidates. Lawyers say the change is largely due to disenchantment with the Republican Party's social policies and the war in Iraq.

``The Iraq war has a very significant pull on people, but it's not just limited to that,'' said Kirk Radke, a New York partner at Kirkland who is fundraising for Clinton. ``There's the need for a better posture within the international community.''

Large U.S. firms such as Jones Day and Sidley Austin, which donated more to President George W. Bush in 2000 than to Democratic candidate Al Gore, are giving thousands more to Democratic hopefuls than Republicans. Top Wall Street investment banks and hedge funds are also giving more to Democrats.

Clinton, a New York senator, and Barack Obama, an Illinois senator, are benefiting the most from the largest law firms, according to the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, a nonprofit organization that tracks political contributions. Five of Clinton's 10 largest donor groups are from law firms.

`Conventional Wisdom'

``Firms want to be on the good side of who they think is going to be the incumbent, whether or not that person is good for business,'' said Bruce MacEwen, a nonpartisan New York legal consultant. ``The conventional wisdom is that the Democrats are going to win the White House.''

Even at Jones Day, the 2,167-lawyer firm that represents the Republican National Committee, attorneys have given 3 1/2 times as much to the three Democratic frontrunners, including $131,333 to Obama. The Cleveland-based firm's lawyers donated more than twice as much to Bush than to Gore in 2000 and slightly more to Bush in 2004.

Overall, lawyers in and out of large firms have given $18.27 million to Democrats Clinton, Obama and John Edwards, compared with $5.75 million to Republicans Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney. Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina and a trial lawyer, leads the pack, backed mainly by attorneys who sue on behalf of shareholders and individuals.

The donations of big firm lawyers mirror those of the largest Wall Street investment bankers who have also backed Democrats this year. Employees at the top 10 Wall Street investment banks gave more than $1.4 million to Democrats and a little more than $900,000 to Republicans, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

`Hometown Favoritism'

Republicans such as Lefkowitz say part of the imbalance is due to the lack of a clear frontrunner among the GOP candidates.

``There's a lot of enthusiasm now on the Democratic side,'' said Lefkowitz, who is serving as Bush's special envoy for human rights in North Korea. ``There's a healthy race between Clinton and Obama and that's exciting a lot of people. In firms that have big offices in cities like New York and Chicago, you're going to see some hometown favoritism.''

Kirkland, whose clients include Boeing Co. and Apple Inc., has given $194,601 to the top three Democrats compared with $84,750 to Giuliani, McCain and Romney. Lawyers at the firm gave 28 percent more to Bush than Gore in 2000 and 34 percent more to Bush than to Democratic candidate John Kerry in 2004.

Bain Capital

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and the cofounder of longtime Kirkland client Bain Capital LLC, found that his connections weren't enough to push him past Clinton and Obama. The $74,950 he collected at Kirkland lagged behind the $111,950 for Clinton and the $82,651 for Obama.

Starr, the Kirkland lawyer who led investigations into former President Bill Clinton over Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky, declined to comment. He is serving as a senior lawyer, or ``of counsel,'' at the firm during his tenure as dean of Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, California.

Floyd Abrams, who represented Judith Miller and the New York Times in the Washington grand jury investigation of the leak of a CIA agent Valerie Plame's name, said lawyers are using their wallets to express anger at the Bush administration.

``The illegal warrantless wiretapping of American citizens'' and the ``self-aggrandizing claims of executive power'' are influencing donations, said Abrams, a partner at New York's Cahill Gordon & Reindel. ``These are not the centrist views that used to attract the middle-of-the-road, often conservative lawyers.''

Business and international relations flourished under Bill Clinton, Hillary's husband, and gave ``a sense of comfort'' with the idea of a Democratic president, Abrams said.

DLA Piper's $241,220

At DLA Piper, an international law firm with 1,500 attorneys in the U.S., lawyers gave $241,220 to Clinton -- the largest contribution to her campaign. The fundraising efforts were led by Lee Miller, the firm's co-chief executive officer in Chicago, and Jim Blanchard, a partner and a former Democratic governor of Michigan.

Blanchard, who has known the Clintons for more than 25 years, said the shift to Democrats ``has a lot to do with the war in Iraq, Guantanamo, torture'' and controversies regarding Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

``Lawyers are much more sensitive to civil liberties and our constitutional foundation and the rule of law,'' he said.

Republican National Committee spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt didn't respond to requests for comment. White House spokesman Scott Stanzel declined to comment.

Lefkowitz said it might be too soon to gauge the political inclinations of the legal community in a race that has more than 15 months to go.

``We're in an early stage right now; people are looking to pick early winners,'' said Lefkowitz, who hasn't donated money to a candidate this year. ``Once both parties have picked a frontrunner, donations to both candidates will balance out.''

Law Firm Donations

Firm                Total Contributions
Skadden Arps        $314,966

Clinton   Obama     Edwards   Giuliani  McCain    Romney
$133,310  $91,256   $57,250   $10,700   18,150    $4,300


Sidley Austin       $294,665

Clinton   Obama     Edwards   Giuliani  McCain    Romney
$63,000   $180,365  $33,800   $9,400    $5,800    $2,300


DLA Piper           $291,977

Clinton   Obama     Edwards   Giuliani  McCain    Romney
$241,220  $35,257   $9,900    $0        $1,000    $4,600


Kirkland            $279,351

Clinton   Obama     Edwards   Giuliani  McCain    Romney
$111,950  $82,651   $0        $6,000    $3,800    $74,950

Blank Rome          $267,650

Clinton   Obama     Edwards   Giuliani  McCain    Romney
$95,500   $17,150   $0        $4,800    $137,700  $12,500

Greenberg Traurig   $252,893

Clinton   Obama     Edwards   Giuliani  McCain    Romney
$86,200   $19,356   $1,050    $42,750   $101,537  $2,000


Jones Day           $182,313

Clinton   Obama     Edwards   Giuliani  McCain    Romney
$4,000    $131,333  $6,829    $25,651   $12,750   $1,750


Latham & Watkins    $178,578

Clinton   Obama     Edwards   Giuliani  McCain    Romney
$68,150   $62,028   $8,450    $2,550    $16,750   $20,650


Akin Gump           $166,944

Clinton   Obama     Edwards   Giuliani  McCain    Romney
$68,830   $51,814   $9,150    $21,750   $11,100   $4,300


WilmerHale         $161,790

Clinton   Obama     Edwards   Giuliani  McCain    Romney
$43,930   $89,010   $11,450   $350      $12,450   $4,600

Source: All numbers from the Center for Responsive
Politics (opensecrets.org) as of July 15.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lindsay Fortado in New York at lfortado@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 31, 2007 09:11 EDT