Ed Pagano

Ed Pagano joined Akin Gump after serving in the Obama administration as Senate Liaison and Deputy Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs. In this role, Ed was responsible for managing the Senate Legislative Affairs Office and charged with advancing the president’s legislative agenda and promoting his priorities on Capitol Hill.

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Before joining the White House in 2012, Ed worked for nearly two decades with Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), both for the senator’s office and the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Sen. Leahy. This included serving as Sen. Leahy’s chief of staff, managing the senator’s offices in Washington and Vermont and overseeing the senator’s work on the Judiciary, Agriculture and Appropriations committees. During that time, he advised Sen. Leahy on legislation—such as the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, the first major reform of the patent system in 60 years—and Supreme Court hearings and confirmations, including those of Justice Sotomayor and Justice Kagan.

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Ed began his professional career as an associate at a large law firm before moving on to serve as a field director for the Clinton-Gore presidential campaign in 1992. During college, he played power forward for four years for the Vermont Catamounts basketball team. He remains active at the University of Vermont as a member of the board of trustees and through alumni and student engagement.