Biglaw partners and associates — and perhaps clients, too — continue to flee firms that capitulated to Trump, promising nearly $1 billion in pro bono payola for conservative causes. The powers that be at firms outside of these dastardly deals are collectively wiping their brows, happy to stay far, far away from all of the negative publicity. But what if a high-powered Biglaw firm is representing one of Trump’s many business tentacles outside of the presidency? Can an associate at one of those firms dare to publicly criticize Trump? As it turns out, the answer is no.
Davis Polk & Wardwell — a firm that brought in $2,540,000,000 gross revenue in 2024, putting it at No. 17 on the Am Law 100 — has thus far avoided Trump’s ire. It hasn’t been targeted with any vindictive executive orders, nor has it been named in any bogus EEOC investigations looking into its diversity practices. That may be because DPW is currently (quietly) representing Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. as it works with Crypto.com. But how much longer will that peace last?
Ryan Powers, formerly of the elite firm, claims he was fired after writing op-eds that were critical of the Trump administration, without first obtaining approval. The Harvard Law grad says that on June 11, he was warned that he needed to stop, but he refused. Here’s what happened next, per his Substack:
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The next day, I wrote an article about the Trump administration’s ability to track protestors and the grave First Amendment concerns it raised. I gave the firm an opportunity to review it, made clear the views articulated were entirely my own, and emphasized that the piece addressed urgent issues of public concern. I asked for a written explanation if the firm objected.
Four hours later, I was fired and escorted from the building by two security guards. The entire process lasted less than five minutes. By the time I arrived home, my name had already been removed from the firm’s website.
“The firm needs to do what it needs to do to protect whatever interests that they choose to support,” Powers said in an interview with Bloomberg Law. “I understand why they are doing what they’re doing. At the same time, it’s very sad on a personal level because it ends my Big Law career sooner than I had anticipated and in a very different way than I had anticipated.”
Powers went on to say that his former firm “should be embarrassed” that it’s working for Trump Media. “We tout our commitment to social responsibility through our pro bono partners and the kind of causes that we take up as part of official firm practice,” he told Bloomberg, “and then we are partnering with a namesake organization to a sitting president who has not supported those values.”
Powers believes that what happened to him was about more than just one associate at one firm being fired for voicing his point of view — “it was a warning,” he writes. “When the institutions built to support the rule of law fall quiet, the silence speaks volumes.” Here’s more from his Substack:
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Big Law employees aren’t bankers or PR professionals. We are attorneys – specifically trained to navigate complex legal systems and bound by an oath to support the rule of law. Lawyers are the first line of defense in a constitutional crisis, and we cannot expect public defenders or legal aid clinics to carry that burden alone. The truth is, that job belongs to all of us – and Big Law has the resources, influence, and platform to stand firm when it counts. With that power comes a responsibility not just to our clients, but to the legal profession itself. Democracy doesn’t stand a chance without it.
Lawyers like Ryan Powers who are willing to make their voices heard, no matter the cost, continue to be our last line of defense for democracy. Make your voices heard. Condemn Trump’s attacks against lawyers. Protect the profession. It is crucial that you rise up to protect the rule of law, which can only bend so much until it breaks and our democracy lays in ruins.
Davis Polk Axes Associate Over Writings Criticizing Trump [Bloomberg Law]
Inside Big Law: The Cost of Silence is Democracy Itself [Ryan W. Powers Substack]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.