Law firms tangling with President Donald Trump are being hit hard as their clients are reacting, a legal analyst said Monday.
Trump went after several major law firms with executive orders that took action including barring them from winning government contracts or being cleared to work in federal buildings. Among those targeted were firms that had been involved in legal action against Trump.
Some law firms responded by fighting back in court, while others acquiesced to Trump's demands. In one case, a firm agreed to take on nearly $1 billion in free legal services for cases and issues that Trump cares about.
MSNBC's Lisa Rubin explained that those willing to submit to Trump are starting to see a backlash from clients. Other firms have altered their pro bono policies, which could put them at odds with the administration.
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Rubin said she's hearing anecdotal reports that firms are changing "the nature of their own pro bono commitments" to dodge the Trump administration. "They don't want to call attention to themselves."
But it is the pressure and pushback from clients that actually pay for the law firms survival that's being felt, Rubin said.
The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that companies like tech company "Oracle, investment bank Morgan Stanley, an airline, and a pharmaceutical company," along with Microsoft, have reservations about working with firms that made deals with Trump.
Oracle was founded and co-owned by one of Trump's friends, Larry Ellison. So, Rubin said it isn't that the firms "object to the politics of the situation." Rather, "people don't want to be represented by someone who doesn't know how to fight. If you can't fight for yourself and your own principles, why should we hire you?"
Republican mega-donor Ken Griffin owns the major hedge fund company Citadel, but the general counsel for the company stood up at a luncheon to question the firm they use. The lawyer, a former federal prosecutor, "essentially said, we want to be in business with people who are willing to undertake a fight," said Rubin.
"Yet, you're seeing people who would describe themselves as raging moderates, if that, only want to affiliate themselves with law firms that have an appetite for the fight," Rubin closed.
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