Trump reaches deals with 5 law firms, allowing them to avoid prospect of
punishing executive orders
[April 12, 2025]
By ERIC TUCKER
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced deals Friday with
five law firms that will allow them to avoid the prospect of punishing
executive orders and require them to together provide hundreds of
millions of dollars' worth of free legal services for causes his
administration says it supports.
The resolutions reflect the Republican president's continued success in
bending prominent law firms to his will as they seek to cut deals with
his administration to avoid being targeted by White House sanctions like
the ones confronting others in the legal community.
The White House said that the firms of Kirkland & Ellis LLP; Allen Overy
Shearman Sterling US LLP; Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP; and Latham &
Watkins LLP would each provide $125 million in free legal work for
causes including veterans affairs and combatting anti-Semitism. As part
of the agreement, the administration agreed to withdraw letters from the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission demanding information about
whether the firms were engaged in discriminatory hiring practices.
In a separate deal also announced Friday, Trump said that the firm of
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft would agree to dedicate $100 million in
pro bono services. The agreements also required the firms to disavow any
“illegal” diversity, equity and inclusion considerations in their hiring
and to agree to accept clients regardless without regard to political
beliefs.
The executive committee of Kirkland & Ellis told the firm Friday that
the resolution would help it resolve the EEOC investigation and avert an
executive order, and that it would continue to operate with the
“non-partisan basis” and “merit-based philosophy that is and has always
been the essence" of the firm.
“It is also consistent with the values that underpin our firm and cement
us together, including our culture that prioritizes ability and
opportunity, not politics,” the committee wrote in an email obtained by
The Associated Press.
Representatives from the four other firms did not immediately return
messages seeking comment.
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The spate of executive orders directed at the legal community and
top law firms over the last two months has been part of a broader
effort by Trump to reshape civil society and to extract concessions
from entities whose work he opposes. The orders have threatened to
upend the day-to-day business of the firms by stripping their
lawyers' security clearances, barring their employees from access to
federal buildings and terminating federal contracts held by the
firms or their clients.
Since Trump levied the first of his orders, several major law firms
— including WilmerHale, Perkins Coie and Jenner & Block — have won
court rulings that have temporarily halted enforcement of most of
the provisions. But other firms have sought to avert punishment by
striking a deal with the White House.
Another firm that Trump targeted this week, Susman Godfrey, which
won a $787 million settlement in a libel lawsuit against Fox News
for repeating the president's lies about fraud in the 2020 election,
sued Friday night to block the latest order. The firm's complaint in
Washington, DC federal court called Trump's act “a gave threat” to a
“foundational premise of our Republic. The President is abusing the
powers of his office to wield the might of the Executive Branch in
retaliation against organizations and people that he dislikes.”
Paul Weiss was the first to settle with Trump, agreeing to provide
$40 million in pro bono legal services and make other changes in
exchange for the administration rescinding an executive order issued
just days earlier. Other firms that have since cut deals include
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, as well as Willkie, Farr &
Gallagher, and Milbank.
Some of the firms that have been targeted, including WilmerHale and
Jenner & Block, have associations with lawyers who previously
investigated Trump or have represented prominent Democrats. The
first firm to face an executive order, Covington & Burling, employs
lawyers who have provided legal representation to special counsel
Jack Smith, who investigated Trump and brought criminal charges
against him between his first and second terms.
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