U.S. President Donald Trump gestures, as he boards Air Force One to depart for New Jersey at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., March 21, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
A prominent law firm that struck a deal with President Donald Trump — amid threats from the White House — found itself under fire again Friday, this time from those in the legal world.
Trump on Thursday withdrew an executive order that rescinded security clearances from the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. The move came after Trump met law firm chairman Brad Karp, and they came to an agreement, with Paul, Weiss pledging $40 million worth of pro bono legal services during Trump's presidency, focusing on fighting antisemitism and helping veterans. The firm also agreed to review its hiring practices and eliminate any diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, policies.
Additionally, the firm acknowledged the alleged misconduct of a former partner who investigated Trump while working for the Manhattan District Attorney's office.
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The news led to immediate backlash from critics on social media. And on Friday, legal experts joined in to blast the firm.
The Bulwark obtained a "remarkably nonspecific" email the firm sent to staffers that outlined the deal. At one point, Karp begged recipients not to discuss the matter publicly.
“Given the media attention focused on the firm and the sensitivity of this matter, we request that you refrain from any social media postings or other disclosures relating to the Executive Order or its withdrawal,” the email said.
However, some former law firm employees were incensed on Friday, and one former firm attorney sent the publicationa note outlining what they described as “shame” with the firm.
"As a Paul, Weiss alum, I am disgusted. I am betrayed. These are smart, strategic thinkers who cravenly placed cowardice and personal greed over the rule of law, the long term interest of their clients, their peer firms, every single one of their people from the most famous partner to the nameless mail clerk. They have betrayed me and every alum and the legacy of every attorney in the name Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton, and Garrison," the alum said.
A lawyer at another firm echoed the sentiments to the publication.
“Seeing the capitulation of Paul Weiss and Brad Karp, for whom I’ve had a great deal of respect since first meeting him in the 2010s, has been devastating,” that lawyer said. “It only reinforces my belief that my firm—mighty and capable, but smaller than Paul Weiss—would do the same.”
Meanwhile, an associate at the firm Perkins Coie, also facing threats from Trump, told the outlet: “It was so cowardly and despicable."
“They hung us out to dry. If the big firms had stuck together, I think we would have gotten through this. There’s strength in numbers. The corporate clients are less likely to dump any particular firm if Trump is going after ‘Big Law’ as an industry. But now what? Firms have to either pledge fealty to Trump or get destroyed?”