Some lawyers say the deal is driven by profits. Others say this is the realization of autocracy. Some say the move prompted her to quit her legal job in disgust.
Throughout the legal community, lawyers were talking Friday about one of the nation’s most prominent law firms, Paul Weiss, and President Trump, proposing to evade a heavy executive order that would prevent it from representing many clients before the federal government. To avoid a blow to its business, the company agreed to do $40 million worth of unpaid work for the White House’s preferred career.
This is a surprising development of the White House’s extensive retribution campaign against large law firms, which represents lawyers or prosecutors in criminal cases against Mr. Trump ahead of the 2024 election.
Paul Weiss’ move is a specific point of contention because of the company’s position in the legal world. The company has long been dominated by Democrats and is at the forefront of the battle against the government for civil rights.
“They have all the resources they need to fight illegal orders,” said John Moscow, the supreme prosecutor of the District Attorney’s Office of Manhattan under Robert Morgenthau. “The example they set is to succumb to illegal orders, not to fight them in court.”
Attorneys from large and small companies went to social media to condemn the company.
One lawyer posted on X: “Absolutely shameful and inverted behavior.”
“It’s a time to do a soul search,” another lawyer who once worked for Paul Weiss wrote on LinkedIn.
“It’s not too late to leave your company and find a backbone company,” said a commenter on Paul Weiss’s company LinkedIn page.
Leslie Levin, a professor at the University of Connecticut Law School, said she was “deeply disappointed” by the company’s deal with Trump, especially given its history.
She said many large companies are struggling to cope with pressure from the Trump administration. But the decision based on concerns about the harm of its business violates key principles of the legal profession, she said.
“When power is abused, lawyers should stand on the government, and companies like Paul Weiss have the ability to do so,” Ms. Levin said.
Mark Zaid, another critic of Paul Weiss’s move, is a lawyer representing the whistleblower, including the case that led to Mr. Trump’s first impeachment, saying: “Some things are better than the dollar.”
On Thursday, Mr. Trump said he had reached a deal with Paul Weiss chairman Brad Karp to abandon his executive order against the company. The order would limit the company’s security permit (usually requiring review of the company’s clients’ government contracts) and prohibit its attorneys from entering federal buildings.
In exchange, the company agreed to represent clients, regardless of their political affiliation, and do $40 million in unpaid work on reasons supported by the Trump administration, such as fighting anti-Semitism.
Mr. Trump has also issued execution orders against other law firms, including Perkins Coie, who was sued in federal court last week. A federal judge in Washington ruled that the order against Perkins could be unconstitutional and issued a restraining order to stop the order. This legal battle is underway.
The American Bar Association issued a statement this month denounced the Trump administration’s efforts to undermine major law firms, noting that the actions taken by the White House “rejected clients to obtain justice and betray our fundamental values.” The association declined to comment on Paul Weiss’ arrangement with the White House on Friday.
Hundreds of employees at leading corporate law firms have signed an open letter calling on their employers to oppose the Trump administration’s actions, believing that the White House’s actions could intimidate companies to take over specific clients.
Rachel Cohen, a partner at law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom, shared a LinkedIn screenshot of her resignation email sent to employees of the company on Thursday, citing the company’s “lack of reaction to the Trump administration’s attack on our peers.” Ms. Cohen wrote in an email that Paul Weiss decided to make concessions to the Trump administration.
Ms. Cohen said in an interview that Paul Weiss’ deal with Mr. Trump reflects a “slutty coward” that would undermine the company’s reputation and business prospects.
“At the end of the day, I think it’s actually good for you to decide as a business, as a major corporate law firm, if your clients can trust you to see the long-term impact of these blanket executive orders,” Ms Cohen said.
“And, you think the law exists”
Scarden did not respond to a request for comment.
Some lawyers support Paul Weiss’ decision to settle with Mr. Trump. They pointed out that the damage to the law firm’s business would be significant.
It is clear that many clients will stop working with Paul Weiss because their massive work involves the federal government, several lawyers said.
“I fully understand Paul Weiss’ source because it faces existing threats,” said Ronald Barusch, retired partner from Skadden arps.
“Remember: Lawyers tell clients every day about compromises in principle, and you need to resolve disputes and resolve issues,” Mr Barusch said. “So, they may follow the advice they may give themselves.”
But, he added, it was disappointing: “I love seeing people stand up for the system.”
Yale professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, who worked with Karp to push the company to take a stance on social issues, such as upholding democracy, believes the deal would not significantly hinder the company’s ability to serve customers.
Mr Sonnenfeld added that many components of the deal were aligned with the company’s pre-existing priorities, which Mr Karp expressed in an email to his staff.
“The agreement does not limit Paul Weiss’ ability to act enthusiastically on behalf of his clients’ interests in Trump administration’s actions or executive agencies’ oversight of litigation,” Sonanfield said.
But Paul Weiss’ drama raises a bigger question in the legal industry: What does it mean to be a lawyer if the government can do business with a company’s business?
Paul Weiss “just reschedule the well-known deck chairs on the Titanic,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel wrote on X.
Jessica Silver-Greenberg Contribution report.
