Norman Eisen PLLC is a pro bono law firm which provides services to individual and organizational clients related to voting rights, civil rights, democracy matters, and other domestic and international issues. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the firm is chaired by Ambassador Norman L. Eisen (ret.).
Eisen is a globally-recognized authority on law, ethics, and anti-corruption. He most recently served as special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee from 2019 to 2020, including for the impeachment and trial of President Trump, and was a "critical force in building the case for impeachment" (Washington Post). His book about his service, A Case for the American People: The United States v. Donald J. Trump (Crown 2020), was praised as “tantalizing” (New York Times), “compelling,” (Washington Post), and as “an important piece of the historical record” (Mother Jones). Eisen is also the author of The Last Palace: Europe’s Turbulent Century in Five Lives and One Legendary House (Crown 2018), Democracy’s Defenders: U.S. Embassy Prague, The Fall of Communism in Czechoslovakia, and Its Aftermath (Brookings Institution Press 2020) and Overcoming Trumpery: How to Restore Ethics, the Rule of Law, and Democracy (Brookings Institution Press 2022).
From January 2009 to January 2011, Eisen worked in the White House as special counsel and special assistant to the president for ethics and government reform. The press dubbed him "Mr. No" and the "Ethics Czar" for his tough anti-corruption approach. He was the White House Counsel Office lead on the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory reform and other aspects of the 2009 economic recovery, including advising on the stimulus and the rescues of the auto and finance industries. He also advised President Obama on lobbying regulation, campaign finance law, and open government issues, helping to assure the most scandal-free White House in modern history.
Eisen also served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic from 2011 to 2014. He helped develop innovative anti-corruption and transparency strategies in cooperation with U.S. and Czech law enforcement and other stakeholders. Eisen also helped advance U.S.-Czech security and defense initiatives and deepened economic ties between the two nations.
Before government service, Eisen was a partner in the D.C. law firm Zuckerman Spaeder LLP, where he specialized in litigation and investigations. His cases included Enron, the ADM antitrust case, the subprime financial collapse, the Monica Lewinsky matter and the 2000 and 2004 presidential recounts. Eisen also maintained an active pro bono practice, including civil rights and death penalty litigation. He was named one of DC’s top lawyers by Washingtonian.
Eisen received his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1991 and his B.A. from Brown University in 1985, both with honors. He has been profiled in The Washington Post, New York Magazine, Politico, The Wall Street Journal, and Tablet. He was named to the Politico 50 list of thinkers shaping American politics, to the Washingtonian's list of the 500 Most Influential People, and to the Forward 50 list of American Jews. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Atlantic, Politico, Slate, The Guardian, and many other publications in the United States and internationally. He is a CNN commentator. Eisen was credited by director Wes Anderson as an inspiration for the character of the crusading lawyer Deputy Kovacs in the 2014 film “The Grand Budapest Hotel.”
Eisen is a member of the District of Columbia and Maryland bars. He has also been admitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court.