As members of the 120th Congress meet in Washington this week to elect their leadership, Democratic power lawyers in the private sector are talking among themselves to determine who among them is poised to lend a hand.

In conversations with 12 Democratic lawyers who work outside government — most of whom have held high-profile posts in previous administrations or on Capitol Hill — several tell MS NOW that the chatter in their circles is “how much the Hill is hiring up,” and all agree that the new Congress needs lawyers prepared to meet the moment.

Several of those lawyers, who all spoke on the condition of anonymity to preserve relationships with clients, elected officials and senior staff, also said they knew of people who either had been approached to serve congressional Democrats’ investigative aims or expressed interest in doing so.

A spokesperson for a senior House Democrat said the search for a House general counsel is itself in the formative stages and could take a few weeks. Meanwhile, House Judiciary Democrats have already posted an announcement seeking lawyers interested in oversight and investigations, among other issues, and noting that “previous experience conducting investigations” is “strongly valued.”

But the qualities most needed in the House general counsel role, as well as in chief counsel positions for the committees most likely to conduct headline-grabbing investigations, are still being actively discussed. One lawyer who spoke to MS NOW suggested that House leaders might be looking for the equivalent of legal unicorns — and in the words of another lawyer, “gluttons for punishment.”

The Trump administration has already taken a combative approach to investigations, which will be a priority for the incoming House and are the most pressing reason to bring on skilled lawyers.

In a TruthSocial post Sunday, Trump even suggested that Democrats’ threats of impeachment proceedings and “many other forms of punishment” constitute “extortion at the highest level” and ordered the DOJ, through his post, “to look into this criminal act, immediately!”

One lawyer with recent White House and Capitol Hill experience told MS NOW that some of those advising Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the projected speaker, have been holding regular “quasi-official” meetings about the staff congressional Democrats will need for the investigations ahead. They have also interviewed “dozens” of former Hill staffers, as well as people involved in defending against congressional investigations during the Obama and Biden administrations.

For the top job, that person continued, Democrats need a “wartime consigliere” or someone with deep knowledge of the Office of Legal Counsel — and of the White House. Additionally, the general counsel should be capable of deciding which fights are worth choosing rather than battling everything in the courts. The person added the right candidate needs the will to “right-size the relationship” between Congress and the executive branch, and since Jeffries has a reputation of not micromanaging, the right person for the job would be left to make tough decisions on their own.

The lawyer noted not everyone in their circles has been happy with Rep. Robert Garcia’s “lawyer up” directives, noting they did not strike the right tone. Still, the House general counsel should be capable of “knife-fight jiu jitsu,” or aggressively fighting, a sentiment with which a senior lawyer with experience in all three branches agreed.

Joyce Vance, an MS NOW legal analyst and former U.S. attorney during the Obama administration, said professional prosecutorial experience matters, too, especially for investigations.

She noted that now-Rep. Dan Goldman’s work as head of investigations for the House Intelligence Committee during Trump’s first impeachment was pivotal in showing how a lawyer’s prosecutorial background and demeanor could be effectively harnessed for congressional oversight. Goldman’s questions, she said, ushered in a “fresh approach to what this kind of lawyering should look like.”

Among those who have managed or defended against congressional investigations, the lawyer with recent White House and Hill experience said there is also widespread agreement that Democrats need a “no-bullshit litigator.” But that person, they and others believe, should not be the House’s chief lawyer.

As another lawyer who has served in a senior DOJ role noted, “Congress cannot run into court on Jan. 3.”

Congress will need to use all of its tools to convince judges that it has done everything it can to resolve disputes before bringing a lawsuit, the person noted, and show that it has only resorted to litigation because “the alternative would be the clock running out on your [session of] Congress,” which lasts only two years.

Vance also emphasized the need to build a team full of people with “something ineffable”: a love of country and commitment to the “ongoing American experiment” that permeates their work.

Asked who they would recommend for the House counsel job, a senior lawyer with experience in all three branches paused. For that job, they said, what they would most want is a top-flight political strategist.

“I can think of people who have the skills,” they said. “And none of them is a lawyer.”

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