Democratic lawmakers warn top law firms that deals with Donald Trump may be illegal
Democratic legislators have warned top law firms that the deals they have struck with US President Donald Trump to avoid being targeted by punitive executive orders may violate federal and state laws.
Lawmakers on Thursday sent letters to nine law firms, including Paul Weiss, Skadden and Kirkland & Ellis, advising them that their agreements to support Trump’s preferred causes with pro bono work and to not pursue diversity policies in recruitment may fall afoul of US statutes outlawing racketeering, bribery, extortion and other misconduct.
The 16 lawmakers — led by Dave Min and April McClain Delaney, the representatives from California and Maryland, respectively — said they were “sympathetic” to the circumstances facing Big Law, “with the administration using coercive and illegal measures to target certain law firms and threaten their ability to represent and retain their clients”.
But the deals represented “a very concrete and real threat to the rule of law and integrity of the judiciary”, they said, and urged the firms to “disavow” them.
Elite US corporate law firms have come under unprecedented attack by the White House in recent weeks, as the Trump administration suspended lawyers’ security clearances, called for a review of government contracts with some firms and sought to block their access to federal government buildings — which at least one judge has interpreted to include courthouses.
Paul Weiss’s chair Brad Karp, the first to strike a deal with Trump, said in an email to his employees last month that the firm risked bankruptcy if he did not agree to provide $40mn in pro bono legal services to causes championed by the president.
A number of others, most of which are deal-driven businesses, agreed to provide at least $100mn in pro bono legal services, fearing irreparable damages.
However, smaller firms have taken a different approach. Perkins Coie, WilmerHale, Jenner & Block and Susman Godfrey are challenging Trump in court, arguing his directives violate constitutional protections, including free speech. Federal judges have in turn frozen critical parts of the executive orders.
Trump has targeted firms linked to individuals who have challenged him or that have worked against his initiatives, such as the attempt to ban people travelling to the US from Muslim dominant countries.
Recommended The Big Read How Trump is exploiting Big Law’s identity crisis The White House, as well as the recipients of the letters — which also include Latham & Watkins, Simpson Thacher, A&O Shearman, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, Milbank, and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft — did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The lawmakers argued there were “numerous conflicts of interest” between terms of the deals with Trump and the law firms’ clientele.
“Agreements of this kind also signal acquiescence to an abuse of federal power, raising serious questions about how or whether” the firms “would represent clients or take on matters that might be seen as antagonistic to President Trump or his agenda”, they added.
Newsweek: Democrats Demand Law Firms Turn Over Details on Deals With Trump
More than a dozen Democratic members of Congress have sent letters to nine major law firms who struck deals with the Trump administration, demanding further details on their agreements.
The lawmakers want more answers, as they say the deals, "pose a serious threat to the integrity and independence of our judicial system and the administration of justice," according to a statement from the office of Democratic U.S. Representative April McClain Delaney of Maryland.
Newsweek has reached out to the White House and the nine law firms for comment via email on Thursday.
The Context
Since returning to office, President Donald Trump has targeted several of the nation's most high-profile firms after they worked with his perceived political enemies or had been adversarial to him or his campaign. Many of those hit with the executive orders, blocking attorney's security clearances and canceling government contracts, had connections to the Robert Mueller or Jack Smith investigations into Trump.
While some firms have filed lawsuits to block the orders, others have worked out deals with the White House to either reverse or prevent them. Paul Weiss became the first firm to do so, agreeing to provide $40 million in pro bono legal services aligned with administration priorities and to halt all DEI practices. Other major firms followed suit including Milbank and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
What To Know
The joint open letters on Thursday were sent by 14 members of Congress, including U.S. Representatives McClain Delaney, Dave Min of California and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
They request information on the enforceability of the law firms' deals with the Trump administration, what promises were made and explanations on whether they could put the law firms at risk of violating several laws, including those involving federal bribery and anti-fraud statutes.
The lawmakers also asked the firms if, as part of the deals, they had agreed to cease representation of clients "who might have claims against the government or whose interests are adverse to the President's?"
They point out that the settlements "may raise numerous issues under binding state bar professional codes of conduct rules for lawyers."
The nine law firms that have received the letters are: Kirkland & Ellis LLP; Latham & Watkins LLP; Allen Overy Shearman Sterling LLP; Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP; Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP; Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP; Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP; and Milbank LLP.
What People Are Saying
Democratic lawmakers, including Tlaib, McClain Delaney and Min, wrote in their joint open letter to the law firms, "We urge you to reconsider your decision–one which we can sympathize with but which we think is a clear mistake–to seemingly capitulate to clear abuse of the law by the Trump administration. Agreements of this kind also signal acquiescence to an abuse of federal power, raising serious questions about how or whether your firm would represent clients or take on matters that might be seen as antagonistic to President Trump or his agenda"
George Conway, lawyer and vocal Trump critic, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, last month: "This Paul Weiss capitulation is the most disgraceful action by a major law firm in my lifetime, so appalling that I couldn't believe it at first."
Legal analyst Aron Solomon told Newsweek, "President Donald Trump has never been shy about picking fights, but his latest battle, against Big Law, is one that is aimed at striking the very foundation of the American legal system.... Trump is doing more than just flexing his political muscle—he's actively undermining the independence of the legal profession."
White House deputy press secretary Harrison Fields previously told Newsweek: "Democrats and their law firms weaponized the legal process to try to punish and jail their political opponents. The President's executive orders are lawful directives to ensure that the President's agenda is implemented and that law firms comply with the law."
What Happens Next
More than 500 firms and legal offices filed a legal challenge to Trump's executive orders targeting them last month. The legal cases are set to continue in the coming months.