Biglaw

Why Did Skadden Hire Paul Manafort's Daughter? The Government Has A Theory

The firm allegedly didn't want to hire her until Paul Manafort got involved.

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Paul Manafort (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

The details being revealed as part of the government’s case against former Skadden counsel Greg Craig are getting juicy. Craig earned himself the dubious distinction of being the first prominent Democrat to face charges as part of the Mueller probe in April when he was indicted for making false statements to the Department of Justice in connection with his work at Skadden Arps.

Paul Manafort engaged Skadden on behalf of the Ukrainian government. As part of that representation, the firm wrote a report (which has been a featured part of the Mueller investigation’s case against Manafort) justifying the prosecution of former Russian-aligned Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s political rivals. Former Skadden associate, Alex van der Zwaan, pleaded guilty to lying to investigators in the Russia probe about his communications with former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates.

In court documents filed May 10th, prosecutors said Craig argued Skadden should hire a relative of Manafort after the firm had already rejected her application. According to reporting by Big Law Business, that relative appears to match the description of one of Manafort’s daughters, Andrea Shand.

Manafort allegedly viewed the work on the behalf of the Ukrainians as the prize he could bring to the firm that hired his relative:

It “goes without saying that I will push all future business to wherever [my relative] lands,” Manafort allegedly told Craig in an email, adding that a $4 million fee Skadden earned on its earlier work for the Ukrainians “can be viewed as just the beginning.”

After receiving this incentive from Manafort, Craig allegedly tried to convince Skadden to hire the relative, as reported by Politico:

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After Manafort emailed him, Craig told a senior partner at Skadden that he wanted the firm to make her an offer.

He drafted a memo outlining her strengths as a lawyer but noted that “perhaps one of the most important” reasons to hire her was the “potential for significant future business” with Manafort, according to prosecutors. While Manafort was already likely to steer more work to the firm, if Skadden hired his relative it would “[become] a certainty,” Craig wrote.

The government argues his actions on behalf of Manafort’s family member demonstrates how far Craig was willing to go to keep Manafort’s business:

“Craig’s desire to keep Manafort’s business—as demonstrated in detail in his efforts on behalf of Manafort’s relative—is probative of his motive and intent to mislead the [Foreign Agents Registration Act] Unit and avoid registering under FARA,” prosecutors write in the filing.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Shand began working at Skadden in the fall of 2012, after summering the year before at the doomed Dewey & LeBoeuf. Shand left Skadden in 2016, and is currently associate general counsel at Fort L.P.

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headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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