(Reuters) - Even though he wasn't directly arguing the case to U.S. senators to convict former President Donald Trump for inciting a riot at the U.S. Capitol last month, the impeachment trial that ended Saturday represented everything Barry Berke loves about his practice.

"It was the sort of trial work and trial strategy that is at my core of what I do and what I believe in," said Berke, who served as the chief impeachment counsel for the House impeachment managers. "It was my belief we should treat it like any trial and come up with our path to victory."

Berke is now back in New York and back at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, where he is the co-chair of the litigation department, following a one-month leave of absence to serve as the chief impeachment counsel. Berke said his last day in Congress was Tuesday.

The trial marked his second time on a team arguing Democrats' case, unsuccessfully, to convict Trump. He served as special counsel in the 2020 Senate impeachment trial over charges that Trump abused his power to pressure Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, his then-Democratic rival, and his son Hunter.

Berke noted that he has now worked on half of the U.S. presidential impeachment trials that were ever held, adding, "The impeachment trial bar is a very, very small bar."

While taking leaves of absence for his impeachment roles, Berke said he was paid a government salary. He said there was no question that he was going to return to Kramer Levin.

"Kramer Levin is my home," he said.

While Trump's first impeachment regarding Ukraine involved a "complicated set of facts," his second impeachment was akin to prosecuting a violent crime, Berke said.

The president's attorneys argued during the Senate impeachment trial that Democrats provided no evidence he incited insurrection and that his remarks to a crowd of supporters on Jan. 6 immediately prior to the Capitol riot were protected by the First Amendment.

Berke said given the evidence, Trump's attorneys had to "defend the indefensible."

With all but seven Republican senators backing the president, Trump was acquitted on Saturday after Berke's team failed to win the two-thirds majority needed to convict the former president in an impeachment trial.

In private practice, Berke has represented Theodore Huber, a former partner at New York-based hedge fund Deerfield Management Co LP who was convicted over a scheme to trade on leads about pending U.S. healthcare regulatory changes.

The U.S. Supreme Court ordered a federal appeals court in New York to reconsider its ruling upholding Huber's conviction in January. Berke has also represented New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in federal and local criminal investigations.

"I love being a trial lawyer. That is what I do, and that is what I have passion for," Berke said.