Major law firm reaches deal with Trump to avoid White House order even
as two other firms sue
[March 29, 2025]
By ERIC TUCKER
WASHINGTON (AP) — A prominent international law firm reached a deal with
President Donald Trump on Friday to dedicate at least $100 million in
free legal services and to review its hiring practices, averting a
punishing executive order like the ones directed at nearly a half-dozen
other major legal institutions in recent weeks.
The deal with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom was announced just
hours after two other law firms sued in federal court over executive
orders that threatened the suspension of their attorneys' security
clearances and their access to federal buildings. Judges on Friday
evening temporarily blocked the enforcement of key parts of the
executive orders against those firms, WilmerHale and Jenner & Block.
The contrasting approaches reflect divisions within the legal community
on whether to fight or negotiate as Trump seeks to extract major
concessions from some of the world's most significant law firms and in
some cases punish them over their association with prosecutors who
previously investigated him. Besides Skadden Arps, another firm, Paul
Weiss, has reached an agreement with the White House, a deal that
prompted major backlash last week from lawyers who said the capitulation
set a bad precedent.
In a message to his firm, Skadden Arps executive partner Jeremy London
said the firm had recently learned that the Trump administration
intended to issue an executive order targeting it over its pro bono
legal work and its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
“When faced with this information, we carefully considered what the
right path would be for us, and the answer was not obvious. We were
thoughtful and deliberate in determining the steps we might take,
knowing that the decisions we were grappling with would have fundamental
consequences for our firm,” London wrote in the message, which was
obtained by The Associated Press.
He added that the firm opted to enter negotiations with the
administration in hopes of warding off the issuance of an executive
order.
“We entered into the agreement the President announced today because,
when faced with the alternatives, it became clear that it was the best
path to protect our clients, our people, and our Firm,” he wrote.
As part of the deal, Skadden Arps agreed, among others things, to
provide at least $100 million in pro bono legal services related to
causes including veterans affairs and countering antisemitism. It also
pledged a commitment to merit-based hiring and to use an independent
counsel to make sure its employment practices are legal and don't rely
on diversity, equity and inclusion considerations.
The two firms who sued on Friday, Jenner & Block and WilmerHale, argued
in their complaints that the orders amount to an unprecedented assault
on the legal system and represent an unconstitutional form of
presidential retaliation.
“Our Constitution, top to bottom, forbids attempts by the government to
punish citizens and lawyers based on the clients they represent, the
positions they advocate, the opinions they voice, and the people with
whom they associate," said the complaint from Jenner & Block, filed in
federal court in Washington.
After arguments Friday, two different federal judges in Washington
granted temporary restraining orders sought by the firms to block
enforcement of key portions of the order dealing with access to federal
buildings and government contracts. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon,
ruling in the case of WilmerHale, said the firm "faces more than
economic harm — it faces crippling losses and its very survival is at
stake.”
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President Donald Trump speaks at an education event and executive
order signing in the East Room of the White House in Washington,
March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
“We appreciate the court’s swift action to preserve our clients’
right to counsel and acknowledgement of the unconstitutional nature
of the executive order and its chilling effect on the legal system.
The court’s decision to block key provisions of the order vindicates
our and our clients’ foundational First Amendment rights,” a
WilmerHale spokesperson said in a statement.
The firms argued the executive orders, issued earlier in the week,
have already affected their business, with Jenner & Block saying
that one client has been notified by the Justice Department that the
firm cannot attend an upcoming meeting at the building.
“That client therefore will either need to attend the meeting
without outside counsel or would need to retain new outside counsel
before April 3,” the lawsuit says.
The WilmerHale complaint raises similar concerns, calling it a
flagrant violation of the firm's rights.
“It imposes severe consequences without notice or any opportunity to
be heard; it uses vague, expansive language that does not adequately
inform WilmerHale (or its clients) of what conduct triggered these
extraordinary sanctions; and it unfairly singles out WilmerHale
based on its perceived connections to disfavored individuals and
causes,” the lawsuit says.
Targeted law firms have taken different approaches to the executive
orders that threaten to upend their business model and chill their
legal practice.
Earlier this month, the law firm of Perkins Coie also challenged the
Trump order in court and succeeded in getting a judge to temporarily
block enforcement. The Paul Weiss firm, by contrast, cut a deal with
the White House days after it was subjected to an executive order,
with its chairman saying that the order presented an “existential
crisis” for the firm and that he wasn't sure it could have survived
a protracted fight with the Trump administration.
The executive order against Jenner & Block this week stemmed from
the fact that the firm once employed Andrew Weissmann, a lawyer who
served on special counsel Robert Mueller’s team that investigated
Trump during his first term in office over potential connections
between his 2016 campaign and Russia. Weissmann, a frequent public
target of Trump's ire, left the firm several years ago.
Mueller has retired from WilmerHale, but the White House executive
order from Thursday mentions him as well as another retired partner
and a current partner who all served on Mueller's team.
“While most litigation requires discovery to unearth retaliatory
motive, the Order makes no secret of its intent to punish WilmerHale
for its past and current representations of clients before the
Nation’s courts and for its perceived connection to the views that
Mr. Mueller expressed as Special Counsel,” the WilmerHale lawsuit
says.
The first executive order targeted Covington & Burling, a firm that
has provided legal representation to special counsel Jack Smith, who
investigated Trump during the Biden administration and filed two
separate criminal cases that were abandoned after Trump's election
win last November.
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