Corporate Counsel Magazine Reports Bush as Clear Favorite for Contributions by Top Legal Officers.

NEW YORK -- When called upon to reach for their own checkbooks, it appears that the nation's best-paid corporate attorneys have a clear favorite in the presidential election: George W. Bush. According to the upcoming October issue of Corporate Counsel Magazine(R), 22 of the 50 best-paid general counsel in the country have contributed money directly to Bush's reelection effort during the 2004 election cycle, while only four members of this group have contributed to John Kerry's campaign. The survey will also be available online at www.corpcounsel.com.

Among the general counsel backing the president, 21 gave $2,000 each, the maximum individual donation permitted under federal law. Only two contributed the same amount to Kerry--Stephen Lambright of Anheuser Busch and Thomas Gottschalk of General Motors Corporation. (Both of these individuals contributed the same amount to Bush.)

Still, Democrats can take some solace in the fact that the party has boosted its share of total GC donations made to all federal candidates and political party committees, compared to the 2000 election.

These findings are based on Corporate Counsel's review of Federal Election Commission data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan research group. CPR defines the start of the 2004 election cycle as June 1, 2003. At press time, only contributions through July 5, 2004, had been posted.

The review looked at donations made by the 50 highest-ranking GCs on the magazine's annual GC compensation survey.

Corporate Counsel is published monthly by American Lawyer Media, Inc. (ALM).

Headquartered in New York City, ALM is a leading integrated media company, focused on the legal industry. ALM currently owns and publishes 34 national and regional legal magazines and newspapers, including The American Lawyer and The National Law Journal(R). ALM's Law.com is the Web's leading legal news and information network. ALM's other businesses include book, custom and newsletter publishing, court verdict and settlement reporting, production of legal trade shows and conferences, educational seminars and distribution of content related to the legal industry. ALM was formed by U.S. Equity Partners, L.P., a private equity fund sponsored by Wasserstein & Co., LP. More information on ALM, its business and services is available on the Web at www.americanlawyermedia.com.