Above the Law has extensively covered the capitulation of nine yellow-bellied Biglaw firms (Paul Weiss, Skadden, Willkie Farr, Milbank, Cadwalader, Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, Simpson Thacher, and A&O Shearman) to the demands of Donald Trump who has been busy bullying the legal profession and, in the process, amassed a nearly $1 billion war chest of pro bono payola. Both sides of the political spectrum see it as a black eye on the profession — a move that sells out the very principle of the rule of law. But if it were up to Kirkland & Ellis — the world’s richest law firm — a lot more than nine firms would have already bent the knee to Trump.
According to reporting by Law.com, Kirkland was behind an effort to coordinate a “critical mass” of Biglaw firms to cave to Trump, leaning on the list of 20 firms the EEOC was focused on in their war against DEI. Like they were the ringleader of a lily-livered circus, Kirkland reportedly recruited Latham, Simpson, and later A&O Shearman, like a twisted MLM, to join in the Trump deals. The coordinated plan had the effect of deflecting and sharing the outrage over the bargain between the firms that all capitulated on the same day.
The world’s highest-grossing law firm approached both Latham & Watkins and Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett as tentpoles for the group action, sources added. A&O Shearman was asked to join the grouping later in the process, sources said, and was less of a driver in getting a deal cut as well as recruiting other firms, even though the firm signed on.
Led by Kirkland’s efforts, the initial grouping of three firms began outreach to several other firms on the EEOC probe of 20 law firms. It is unclear how many were asked to join the grouping, though sources have confirmed that several on the list were contacted. Ultimately, several other firms rejected the offer, and President Donald Trump on April 11 announced a $500 million pro bono deal with the four firms, with each contributing $125 million in pro bono.
This is some shady BS. Even though the coordination between competitors would likely be protected from antitrust scrutiny under the Noerr-Pennington line of cases as related to lobbying and petitioning government for redress, it still gives the ick. It’s like Kirkland was trying to spread out the blame so they wouldn’t catch any flack over their capitulation. But there have been consequences, with many clients see the deals as a weakness and, increasingly, are pulling work away from the firms that have demonstrated they are unwilling to take a legal fight to the Trump administration. Plus, there’s a bit of an exodus of attorneys leaving the firms that caved to Trump, hoping to get the stink of capitulation off their resumes.
Though Kirkland is already trying to turn around the run of bad news for capitulating firms. Kirkland Chair Jon Ballis was recently spotted on Trump’s Saudi Arabia trip trying to secure legal work stemming from the $1 trillion Saudi investment fund. I guess when the bottom line trumps the rule of law, there are always opportunities to secure your bag.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. 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 or Mastodon @[email protected].