Mitchell, Cleta

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Updated 8/25/2009

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Foley & Lardner LLP

3000 K Street, N.W.
Suite 600

Washington, DC 20007

Phone: (202) 295-4081

Fax: (202) 672-5399

Contact Us

Websites associated with this firm:http://www.foley.com

Summary

Current Employment Position(s)

Partner

Year Joined Organization: 1992

Lawyer Overview

Cleta Mitchell is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Foley & Lardner LLP and a member of the firm's Political Law Practice. With more than 30 years of experience in law, politics and public policy, Ms. Mitchell advises corporations, nonprofit and issue organizations, candidates, campaigns, and individuals on state and federal campaign finance law, election law, and compliance issues related to lobbying, ethics and financial disclosure. Ms. Mitchell practices before the Federal Election Commission, the ethics committees of the US House and Senate and similar state and local enforcement bodies and agencies.

Ms. Mitchell has extensive experience on the federal lobbying and ethics law enacted by Congress in 2007, having taught more than a dozen seminars on the subject since its passage. In 2008, Ms. Mitchell authored The Lobbying Compliance Handbook, published by Columbia Books, Inc.

Ms. Mitchell represents numerous candidates, campaigns and members of Congress, as well as state and national political party committees. She has served as legal counsel to the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee. Ms. Mitchell served as co-counsel for the National Rifle Association in the Supreme Court case involving the 2002 federal campaign finance law.

Ms. Mitchell has testified before Congress on numerous occasions related to election law, campaign finance and lobbying and ethics laws, and is a frequent speaker and guest commentator on political law. In 1999, she authored "The Rise of America's Two National Pastimes: Baseball and the Law," published by the University of Michigan Law Review.

Ms. Mitchell has been appointed to the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Election Law. She serves on the board of directors of the National Rifle Association, the American Conservative Union, and is national co-chairman of the Republican National Lawyers Association.

Ms. Mitchell was recently selected by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2010 edition for her work in administrative law. She was also named a "Top Lawyer" in Washington D.C. by the Washingtonian for her work in political and campaign law. Ms. Mitchell was a teaching fellow at the Institute of Politics, Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1981 and was the Shapiro Fellow at the School of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University in 2001.

Ms. Mitchell was a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1976-1984 where she chaired the House Appropriations and Budget Committee. She served on the executive committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Ms. Mitchell was in private law practice in Oklahoma City in litigation and administrative law until 1991 when she became director and general counsel of the Term Limits Legal Institute in Washington, D.C. She litigated cases in state and federal courts nationwide on congressional term limits and served as co-counsel with former U.S. Attorney General Griffin Bell in the U.S. Supreme Court case on term limits for members of Congress.

Ms. Mitchell received her B.A. (high honors, 1973) and J.D. (1975) from the University of Oklahoma. She is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, the State of Oklahoma, the Supreme Court of the United States and federal district and appellate courts.

 

Areas of Practice

  • Political Law
  • Public Affairs
  • Strategic Communications
75% of Practice Devoted to Litigation

Qualifications

Bar Admissions

  • Oklahoma, 1976
  • District of Columbia, 1992
  • U.S. District Court Western District of Oklahoma, 1976
  • U.S. District Court Northern District of Oklahoma, 1990
  • U.S. Supreme Court, 1988

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1989 - 1992 (Member, Professional Responsibility Tribunal)
  • Republican National Lawyers Association (Board of Governors)

Honors and Awards

  • Outstanding Young Women of America (One of Ten), 1979
  • Outstanding Woman Attorney of Oklahoma, 1978
  • Fellow, Harvard University, 1981
  • "Top Lawyer" in Washington D.C. by the Washingtonian

Classes and Seminars

  • Competence in Practice of Law - Continuing Legal Education, Oklahoma Bar Association, 1991
  • Administrative Law - Continuing Legal Education, Oklahoma Bar Association, 1990

Past Employment Positions

  • Term Limits Legal Institute in Washington, D.C., Director and General Counsel
  • Oklahoma House of Representatives, Member, 1976 - 1984
  • Former U.S. Attorney General Griffin Bell in the U.S. Supreme Court, Co-counsel

Education

  • University of Oklahoma College of Law, Norman, Oklahoma, 1975
    J.D.
    Honors: Dean's Honor Roll
  • University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, 1973
    B.A.
    Honors: magna cum laude
    Honors: With High Honors

Fraternities/Sororities

  • Phi Beta Kappa

Articles

Published Works

  • The Rise of America's Two National Pastimes: Baseball and the Law, University of Michigan Law Review

Office Information

Address

3000 K Street, N.W.
Suite 600
Washington, DC 20007

Phones

(202) 295-4081

Faxes

(202) 672-5399

Emails

Contact Us

Websites

http://www.foley.com

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