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The move follows a meeting between Trump and Brad Karp, the
chairman of the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Garrison &
Wharton, over the White House order issued last week.
The order, the latest in a series of similar actions targeting
law firms whose lawyers have provided legal work that Trump
disagrees with, threatened to suspend active security clearances
of attorneys at Paul, Weiss and to terminate any federal
contracts the firm has. It singled out the work of Mark
Pomerantz, who previously worked at the firm and who oversaw an
investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney's office into
Trump's finances before Trump became president.
To avoid those consequences, the White House said Paul, Weiss
had agreed to “take on a wide range of pro bono matters that
represent the full spectrum of political viewpoints of our
society,” to disavow the use of diversity, equity and inclusion
considerations in its hiring and promotion decisions and to
dedicate the equivalent of $40 million in free legal services to
support Trump administration policies on issues including
assistance for veterans and countering anti-Semitism.
In a statement issued by the White House, Karp said: “We are
gratified that the President has agreed to withdraw the
Executive Order concerning Paul, Weiss. We look forward to an
engaged and constructive relationship with the President and his
Administration.”
The firm becomes the latest corporate target to make concessions
to the president to avoid his ire.
Meta and ABC made settlement payments to Trump’s future
presidential library to end lawsuits filed by Trump. Other tech
and financial firms have publicly rolled back DEI programs in
line with Trump’s policy interests.
Earlier executive orders have targeted the law firms of Perkins
Coie, which last week sued in federal court in Washington, and
Covington & Burling.
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