Trump is not 'dictating' legal work in Paul Weiss deal, chairman says

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Reuters

March 23, 2025 6:08 PM EDT Updated an hour ago


March 23 (Reuters) - Paul Weiss Chairman Brad Karp said in a letter to its lawyers and staff on Sunday that the Trump administration would not be "dictating" what free legal work the powerful Wall Street law firm would provide under a deal it struck with the White House last week.

The firm faced intense criticism from some lawyers in part for pledging the equivalent of $40 million in pro bono legal services to support "mutually agreed" administration projects such as combating antisemitism and supporting veterans.

Republican U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday agreed to withdraw an executive order that restricted Paul Weiss lawyers' access to government buildings and officials and threatened government contracts held by the firm's clients. As part of the deal, Karp agreed that his firm would renounce partisanship in hiring and choosing clients, and would audit its employment practices to ensure they are based only on merit.

"The executive order could easily have destroyed our firm," Karp said in Sunday's letter, which was viewed by Reuters. "The Administration is not dictating what matters we take on, approving our matters, or anything like that," he said. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-is-not-dictating-legal-work-paul-weiss-deal-chairman-says-2025-03-23/

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Nope. You threw a partner under the bus and offered up $40 million in tribute. Sounds like the firm is about to go through some things.

[Irish_Dem]

1. The law firm showed they are weak cowards. Trump will keep demanding more and more.

And threatening them.

[S/V Loner]

2. They are lawyers for fuck sake. Do what good lawyers do and...

tell the motherfucker you will see him in court. If they are that great then they will win. Unless they did something very illegal I don’t see how the administration could punish a business for no reason other than they don’t like them.
End of story.

[BumRushDaShow]

4. Makes me wonder now

if 45 has a Karp dossier of some questionable activities and Karp got blackmailed.

[S/V Loner]

5. Makes sense to me.

Do I trust them that they are good guys? Not a chance… they are DC lawyers.

[SunSeeker]

7. "The executive order could easily have destroyed our firm," Karp said

They really had no other viable choice.

They could have litigated his EO all the way to the Supreme Court, and spent probably millions doing so, all while their security clearances and federal contracts were yanked, which would bankrupt the law firm.

Their clients would all have left them. They are a law firm whose main practice is representing corporations. Few business clients want to be represented by a firm on the wrong side of an authoritarian regime.

Eventually they would run out of money to keep fighting. Even if they won and got their security clearances back, which under this SCOTUS is iffy at best, all their clients would be gone, never to return.

[BumRushDaShow]

21. " all while their security clearances and federal contracts were yanked"

Not if a court stayed the order.

This is not a fly-by-night, "mom and pop" little law firm. Per this -

Paul Weiss, Seeing Record Year in Revenue and Profits, Plans Compensation, Partnership Changes

they had $2 BILLION in revenue in 2024.

If anything, they may lose clients due to caving.

[SunSeeker]

22. Perkins Coie got a stay, but still lost clients.

Even though Perkins Coie obtained a temporary restraining order against the EO aimed at them, they are still a mortally wounded firm:

Perkins Coie, which is represented by attorneys from the law firm Williams & Connolly, says the order has already had an impact on its business. Longtime clients have ended their relationship with the firm, it says, and in at least one instance a federal prosecutor has refused to meet with Perkins Coie's attorneys representing a client.

https://www.npr.org/2025/03/12/g-s1-53422/judge-blocks-trump-law-firm

Karp saw what happened to Perkins Coie.

Karp is hoping his deal with Trump will pull his firm out of the death spiral a similar EO put Perkins Coie in. I'm sure he doesn't expect the deal to restore the firm to where it was. He's just trying to stop the bleeding. We'll see if it works. But he knows one thing from watching what happened to Perkins Coie: if you're a corporate firm, fighting an EO doesn't save you.

No business clients want to be represented by a firm on the wrong side of an authoritarian government. For big firms like Perkins Coie and Paul Weiss, their business clients are their lifeblood. If they lose their clients, they die.

[BumRushDaShow]

23. Perkins Coie has about 1/2 the revenue of Paul Weiss

$1.2 BILLION - https://www.law.com/americanlawyer/law-firm-profile/?id=236&name=Perkins-Coie

I don't buy it and I would hope the judiciary wouldn't either. What would essentially be the equivalent of an "ex post facto law-" style E.O. that targets a specific business and can't be given a precedent.

The problem is that 45 wants a "Unitary Executive" and intends on using E.O.'s as "laws" and THAT is NOT what they are supposed to be.

And with respect to that article regarding Perkins Coie and firm that representing THEM - they have to "show harm" and that mention of - "the prosecutor wouldn't meet with us" is part of that "showing 'harm'". Whether it is literal "harm" is a whole other issue but they have to tick this off to a judge.

And when it comes to contract law, the feds don't have a good track record in court when they attempt to do bogus contract awards or rejections, and have been slapped when it happens.

[SunSeeker]

24. Yes, and that money can disappear overnight if their clients go elsewhere.

Even if they can get a judge to agree with them on the EO and contracts, they still won't get their clients back. Their clients are fleeing to big conservative firms like White & Case, whose revenue grew more than 12% to a record $3.3 billion in 2024.

[BumRushDaShow]

25. "Yes, and that money can disappear overnight if their clients go elsewhere."

That is making an assumption that "all their clients" are RW loons. If anything, like you see happening with Target vs Costco or Xitter vs Blue Sky, "taking a stand" can NET customers too.

I don't buy that argument as the vast majority of many of these law firms is necessarily "government business". There are PLENTY of corporate criminal and civil work to be done and of course the most profitable tends to be the class action suits.

[SunSeeker]

27. Big business clients, like the law firms, only care about money. They aren't like Target customers.

They want the firm who will win them the most money/get them the best deal from the government.

[BumRushDaShow]

28. "They aren't like Target customers."

Um, Target has a net market cap of $47 BILLION & is worth of $58 BILLION, with Costco having a $400 BILLION market cap and just a single quarter net sales of almost $80 BILLION, dwarfing any of these law firms.

Where their "customers" go IS critical.

Ask Tesla how their business is going when non-RW loon customers flee.

[FBaggins]

29. They're unlikely to find a court that will block moves related to security clearances

And that by itself is a body blow to any of these firms.

[BumRushDaShow]

30. That will depend on what justification is provided for blocking such

This is NOT supposed to be a "dictatorship" country and it's one thing blocking clearances for actual "employees" (or even former employees) and another when there is litigation going on if they can't show there would be some kind of security breach. This is the same administration run by someone who excelled at dishing out "NDAs".

[Walleye]

26. This has been Trump's MO all his life. Now he's backed by the money of the United States treasury

I keep thinking of when he was younger. He said he love nothing better than taking his friends wives to bed, gross. Ruining people as his life’s work

[Lovie777]

3. We shall see...............

[republianmushroom]

6. Bull shit !

We all ready know if an attorneys lips are moving he is lying.

[SunSeeker]

8. If the Trump administration has to "approve" the work, that IS dictating the work.

Not all attorneys lie. Marc Elias doesn't, for example. One thing Karp was not lying about: "The executive order could easily have destroyed our firm." It might still do so, even after it's rescinded. Business clients don't want to be represented by a firm on the wrong side of an authoritarian.

[Drum]

9. Sure, Jan... n/t

[SunSeeker]

11. Of course their work is dictated if it must be "mutually agreed" by the Trump administration.

The firm faced intense criticism from some lawyers in part for pledging the equivalent of $40 million in pro bono legal services to support "mutually agreed" administration projects such as combating antisemitism and supporting veterans.

[Mc Mike]

10. Yeah. tRump won't be 'dictating'.

It's not like he's an aspiring dictator, or anything like that.

[C_U_L8R]

12. "It's not a principle until it costs you money."

Apparently Karp thinks no principles mean no worries.

[Demobrat]

13. The executive order could easily have destroyed our firm.

And this guy actually believes that once Trump is done humiliating them there won’t be another one. What a tool. That firm is over.

[BidenRocks]

14. Do something to benefit the country!

How about the unconstitutional presidential overreach?
Maybe something there?
Cowards!

[rsdsharp]

15. Yet.

Camel. Nose. Tent.

Before he’s done, Trump will be chairman.

[SunSeeker]

16. Karp had no choice. Other firms, like vultures, were already trying to steal their clients.

From Huffpo:


Karp said that Paul Weiss had entered the deal with the administration after the legal industry did not mobilize in defense of the law firm.

“We were hopeful that the legal industry would rally to our side, even though it had not done so in response to executive orders targeting other firms,” the email, which was published by Business Insider, said. “Disappointingly, far from support, we learned that certain other firms were seeking to exploit our vulnerabilities by aggressively soliciting our clients and recruiting our attorneys.”

Karp also said that the resolution between the firm and the administration “will have no effect on our work and our shared culture and values.”

“The core of who we are and what we stand for is and will remain unchanged,” Karp added.

“I know many of you are uncomfortable that we entered into any sort of resolution at all. That is completely understandable,” he continued. “There was no right answer to the predicament in which we found ourselves. All of us have opinions about what is going on right now in America. This is an incredibly consequential moment for our country. It is very easy for commentators to judge our actions from the sidelines. But no one in the wider world can appreciate how stressful it is to confront an executive order like this until one is directed at you.”

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-live-updates_n_67c61595e4b05c7ddfbdd015/liveblog_67e0b400e4b028623fe259ba

[Demobrat]

17. certain other firms were seeking to exploit our vulnerabilities by aggressively soliciting our clients

and recruiting our attorneys.
And what do they think will happen now?

[SunSeeker]

19. Well, they're hoping they don't end up like Perkins Coie, who fought their EO.

Even though Perkins Coie obtained a temporary restraining order against the EO aimed at them, they are still a mortally wounded firm:

Perkins Coie, which is represented by attorneys from the law firm Williams & Connolly, says the order has already had an impact on its business. Longtime clients have ended their relationship with the firm, it says, and in at least one instance a federal prosecutor has refused to meet with Perkins Coie's attorneys representing a client.

https://www.npr.org/2025/03/12/g-s1-53422/judge-blocks-trump-law-firm

No business clients want to be represented by a firm on the wrong side of an authoritarian government. For big firms like Perkins Coie and Paul Weiss, their business clients are their bread and butter.

Karp is hoping his deal with Trump will pull his firm out of the death spiral a similar EO put Perkins Coie in. I'm sure he doesn't expect the deal to restore the firm to where it was. He's just trying to stop the bleeding. We'll see if it works. But he knows one thing from watching what happened to Perkins Coie: if you're a corporate firm, fighting an EO doesn't save you.

[AmericaUnderSiege]

18. Whatever, Quisling.

Fucking pussies. Enjoy whatever's left of the future you've created for yourselves, paying escalating ransoms to these pigs.

Nobody's gonna protect you now.

[SunSeeker]

20. Nobody protected Perkins Coie, why would anyone protect Paul Weiss?

As Karp noted, nobody protected Perkins Coie, who fought their EO. Perkins Coie lost longtime clients and federal prosecutors are refusing to meet with Perkins Coie's attorneys representing clients. https://www.npr.org/2025/03/12/g-s1-53422/judge-blocks-trump-law-firm

These EOs are a death sentence for a corporate firm. They are truly chilling, as the judge hearing Perkins Coie's case said.

Rather than calling these attorneys "pussies," perhaps you should direct your anger towards Trump, instead of his victims.

[Ray Bruns]

31. Brad Karp is a fucking liar.

Last edited Mon Mar 24, 2025, 08:47 AM - Edit history (1)

[travelingthrulife]

32. Yes, Brad, he is dictating legal work and you are caving.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

33. I am disappointed in Paul Weiss