Robert B. Barnett (born August 26, 1946) is an American lawyer who is a partner at the law firm Williams & Connolly. Family, early life, and education Robert Bruce Barnett was born to a Jewish family on August 26, 1946, in Waukegan, Illinois, the son of Betty and Bernard Barnett. His father ran the Waukegan office of the Social Security Administration and had a popular call-in radio show that offered advice on federal retirement benefits. In 1964, he graduated from Waukegan High School where he served as senior class president. In 1968, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (where he was a member of Pi Lambda Phi fraternity) and in 1971, he graduated with a J.D. degree from the University of Chicago where he was comment editor for the University of Chicago Law Review. On April 10, 1972, he married Rita Braver whom he met while in college. They have a daughter, Meredith Jane Barnett (born 1978); Meredith married Dr. Daniel Ross Penn, April 6, 2008. Career After school, he clerked for John Minor Wisdom in New Orleans (where he married Rita Braver who accepted a job at CBS affiliate WWL-TV). In 1972, the couple moved to Washington, D.C. where he clerked for Supreme Court justice Byron White (replacing David E. Kendall) and his wife became a news-desk editor at the CBS News bureau. After his one-year clerkship, he accepted a position as aide to Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale who assigned him the task of soliciting support for legislation to curb filibusters. He became close friends with fellow Mondale aide Michael Berman. In 1975, he was hired by Joseph A. Califano Jr. and joined the law firm of Williams, Connolly & Califano. Soon after, Mondale was chosen as Jimmy Carter's presidential running mate and Barnett took a leave of absence from his law firm and went to Atlanta to help run Carter's campaign. After Carter's win, Barnett returned to his law practice. He made a name for himself defending white-collar clients including Toyota distributor, Jim Moran and former head of Fannie Mae, Franklin Raines. In 1984, Barnett helped to prep Mondale's running mate, Geraldine Ferraro, for her debate against George H. W. Bush; and defended her from accusations about her husband's alleged Mob affiliations and questionable tax returns. He also represented David Stockman and Kitty Dukakis, helping both to secure lucrative contracts