Law firms defend Trump deals in letters to Democratic lawmakers

Reuters

06-05-2025

May 6 (Reuters) - Five major U.S. law firms defended agreements they reached with President Donald Trump in letters to two Democratic lawmakers, saying they did not compromise their principles in pledging free legal work to causes the White House supports.
Four of the firms — A&O Shearman, Cadwalader, Latham & Watkins and Simpson Thacher — specifically asserted they retained the independence to pick their clients and cases following their deals with Trump last month, according to letters, dated April 28, obtained by Reuters.
A fifth firm, Kirkland & Ellis, said it would "continue to provide pro bono and other legal services on a non-partisan basis to a wide range of underserved populations."
The letters did not say if the firms had dropped pro bono clients or taken on new ones in the wake of the Trump agreements.
The firms were responding to requests from U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland for more information about their deals with Trump, including whether they had dropped clients afterwards.
Blumenthal and Raskin said the firms were "complicit in efforts to undermine the rule of law and to turn private attorneys into President Trump's personal law firm."
The lawmakers said in a joint statement on Monday that the firms' responses raised more questions about the deals.
"The inability of the firms to provide serious answers calls for aggressive oversight and inspection of the president's $1 billion shakedown for free legal services for pet causes," they said.
Spokespersons for the firms did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trump in February began issuing executive orders targeting law firms for allegedly "weaponizing" the legal system against him and his allies, citing their association with his political adversaries or cases he disfavored. He also accused the firms of adopting discriminatory employment policies.
His orders against four firms stripped their lawyers of security clearances, restricted their access to government buildings and threatened to cancel federal contracts held by their clients. Those firms have sued in response, and one, Perkins Coie, on Friday convinced a federal judge in Washington to strike down Trump's order against it.
Nine firms in all have pledged a total of $940 million in pro bono legal work to the Trump administration to avoid Trump's actions. Many of them have defended the deals as necessary to protect their business from Trump's executive orders or from a probe of their hiring practices.
A&O Shearman, Kirkland, Latham and Simpson Thacher noted in their letters that their deals with Trump resolved a separate inquiry that was launched in March by the acting chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
EEOC acting chair Andrea Lucas had warned 20 major law firms that their employment policies meant to boost diversity, equity and inclusion may be illegal.