William J. Farah

202.669.9811

wfarah@berkefarah.com

Related Practice Areas
  • Campaign Finance & Election Law
  • Government Ethics, Presidential Nominations, & Senate Confirmations
  • Lobbying Law Compliance
  • Corporate Anti-Corruption Compliance & Governance
  • Government Investigations, Congressional Oversight, & Internal Investigations
  • Nonprofit Exemption Application, Corporate Governance & Compliance
  • Regulatory & Administrative Law
  • Strategic Counsel & Crisis Management

Managing Partner

William J. Farah serves as Managing Partner of Berke Farah LLP. Prior to founding Berke Farah LLP, Bill served as a partner and the Political Law practice group co-chair at McGuireWoods LLP. Bill’s practice focuses on counseling clients on the laws regulating political activity, which include federal, state, and local campaign finance, lobbying, and gift laws, the Foreign Agents Registration Act, federal and state pay-to-play rules, government ethics laws, and federal corruption laws. He represents clients in government investigations and enforcement matters, including those involving the U.S. Department of Justice, Congressional Committees, the Federal Election Commission, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, federal agency Inspectors General, and State and local enforcement authorities. Bill also represents Presidential appointees, helping those requiring Senate approval to navigate the confirmation process, including preparation for their confirmation hearing.

Bill’s clients include Fortune 500 companies, national trade associations, political action committees (PACs), super PACs, candidates for political office, lobbying and public relations firms, news organizations, and nonprofits. He served as general counsel to the Biden for President campaign in 2007-08 and the Clark for President campaign in 2003-04, and he has been a legal advisor to U.S. Senators, members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Cabinet members and Ambassadors — both Democrats and Republicans.

Bill’s practice includes conducting internal investigations for clients and helping them to design and implement effective compliance programs. This includes conducting compliance training sessions and preparing training materials. He also advises banks that provide financing to political organizations and other non-profits to ensure their loans and other financial services comply with federal campaign finance law.

For 23 years, Bill has been a professorial lecturer of law at The George Washington University School of Law in Washington, D.C., and in 2014 he served in a similar position for the University of Georgia Law School Washington Semester Program. In 1999, Mr. Farah served as general counsel to the NATO 50th Anniversary Summit Host Committee, a nonprofit formed by the transatlantic business community to assist the White House and U.S. State Department in hosting the NATO Washington Summit. He is a graduate of the University of Rochester and a cum laude graduate of American University Washington College of Law.

Representational Experience

  • Represented a lobbying firm in U.S. District Court in successfully objecting to a subpoena, on First Amendment grounds, seeking politically sensitive information.
  • Represented a client in a U.S. Department of Justice investigation of political activity by nonprofits funded by FTX executives.
  • Represented a business associate of Robert Hunter Biden in Congressional investigations into the Biden family’s affairs.
  • Represented a Super PAC spending more than $60 million in the 2020, 2022, and 2024 election cycles.
  • Served as General Counsel to the Biden for President campaign in 2007-08 and the Clark for President campaign in 2003-04. In those roles, he was responsible for overseeing all legal matters, including compliance with campaign finance and government ethics laws; vendor, consulting, and employment agreements; office leases; insurance and banking relationships; and copyright, trademark, and defamation issues.
  • Advised and represented nominees for Cabinet and ambassador positions throughout the Senate confirmation process, including vetting and background investigations, financial disclosure requirements, confirmation hearing preparation, and responding to requests for information and other inquiries from the White House, the Senate, and the media.
  • Conducted an internal investigation into violations of campaign finance law and prepared a report to the company’s board of directors. Thereafter, prepared and submitted voluntary disclosures on behalf of the company to the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Election Commission and negotiated settlements to resolve the company’s legal exposure.
  • Obtained a dismissal of charges against a federal employee accused of violating the Hatch Act and related agency policies in proceedings involving the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, the Merit Systems Protection Board, and the Inspector General of the employee’s agency.
  • Represented a national bank offering loans and other financial services to Presidential campaign, PACs, and non-profit organizations.
  • Advised financial institutions and private equity firms in adapting internal compliance programs for SEC and MSRB political activity rules.
  • Conducted an internal audit for a national trade association PAC.