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New York Times
15-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
There's a Darker Reason Trump Is Going After Those Law Firms
Every year, The American Lawyer publishes a scorecard ranking big law firms by the amount of pro bono service they provide. In 2024 the top firms on the list were Jenner & Block, Covington & Burling and WilmerHale, whose lawyers collectively donated over 400,000 hours to cases advancing the rights of L.G.B.T.Q. people, helping immigrants gain asylum and fighting voter disenfranchisement, among other causes. These firms now top a different list: law firms targeted by the Trump administration's executive orders. This is no accident. These orders use the pretense of punishing Mr. Trump's perceived enemies to pursue the far more comprehensive goal of controlling pro bono work, the lifeblood of legal aid and public-interest law organizations, which depend on pro bono support to promote access to justice and defend the values of liberal democracy. This targeting replaces the ideal of pro bono publico, literally 'for the public good,' with pro bono Trump. I've studied pro bono work around the world, and the American model — in which prominent firms devote enormous amounts of lawyer time, which would otherwise be billed at rates surpassing $1,000 per hour, to litigate cases against the government — is unique. It's also powerful. That model is behind some of the most consequential Supreme Court cases of the past quarter-century. Perkins Coie worked pro bono for Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Osama bin Laden's driver, helping win a 2006 ruling that military commissions at Guantánamo Bay violated federal and international law. WilmerHale and Covington & Burling contributed tens of thousands of hours to petitioners in Boumediene v. Bush, holding that Guantánamo detainees were entitled to habeas corpus. The 2015 case Obergefell v. Hodges, which established the right of same-sex couples to marry, was argued by a lawyer at Ropes & Gray and was supported by an amicus brief filed by Munger, Tolles & Olson. During President Trump's first term, prestigious firms helped immigrants targeted by the Muslim travel ban and filed amicus briefs in the Supreme Court case challenging it. And this is only the tip of the iceberg. Overall, American lawyers contribute over 35 million hours of free counsel annually to clients in need, representing them in cases involving domestic violence, illegal evictions, family separation and more. These efforts are led by lawyers in the nation's largest firms, with members of the top American Lawyer firms donating over five million hours last year. Why do big law firms do it? It's not just charity. While firm leaders care deeply about professional service and make sacrifices to do it well, they also follow what is referred to as the business case for pro bono. Firms use unpaid work in part to burnish their prestige and to buoy their positions in the influential American Lawyer rankings. That helps them to attract and retain the best lawyers — and the biggest corporate clients, which often select firms whose pro bono advances the clients' corporate social responsibilities. But the logic of the business case also imposes constraints. It means that firms generally avoid pro bono matters that even appear to conflict with the interests of clients — and decline pro bono litigation in areas like employment and environmental law on the purely financial grounds that paying clients can walk away if their firms take legal positions viewed as limiting corporate rights. It's that pain point that the Trump administration has used to exert control, by making the case that the old model of pro bono is no longer good for law firms' business. Targeting pro bono work, a longtime goal of the conservative legal movement, has already paid handsome dividends. Nine of the nation's premier law firms — including the mergers and acquisitions heavy hitters Skadden, Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins — signed agreements to provide a collective $940 million in free work. As Mr. Trump summarized the Skadden deal, 'Pro bono Legal Services' are to be provided 'during the Trump administration and beyond, to causes that the President' and the firm 'both support.' Precisely what this free work will look like is an open question. Firm leaders have claimed ultimate authority to, as W. Neil Eggleston of Kirkland put it, 'determine which matters we take on — both pro bono and otherwise.' Mr. Trump has asserted a contrary view, declaring that the agreements effectively create a pro bono war chest to conduct government business, such as negotiating trade deals and supporting the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. The recent executive order called Strengthening and Unleashing America's Law Enforcement pointed to another potential repository of pro-Trump work by instructing the attorney general to promote 'the use of private-sector pro bono assistance' for police officers accused of violating civil rights. These proposals turn the meaning of pro bono on its head by mobilizing free lawyers on behalf of government officials accused of engaging in abuse, rather than vulnerable members of the community who suffer at the government's hand. The law firm agreements harm legitimate pro bono causes in several ways. First, they will absorb firms' capacity for unpaid work, leaving less for people in need. Second, they could introduce significant conflicts of interest between government-sanctioned clients and pro bono matters against the government. Even in the absence of conflicts, it seems safe to assume that the administration will not stand by if firms seek to defend individuals from illegal government action — particularly immigrants detained and deported without due process. This much the president made clear in his call to punish 'the immigration bar and powerful Big Law pro bono practices' accused of vague 'abuses of the legal system' in 'litigating against the federal government.' The president could tie firms up in ancillary disputes, a stalling strategy he successfully deployed in criminal cases against him, or threaten new orders. This threat has a deliberately powerful chilling effect. Already, many firms are declining to take on cases that challenge the administration's policies. That's not a side effect of the crackdown. It was the purpose all along.
Business Journals
09-05-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
Some New England law firms fall in national AmLaw revenue rankings
The biggest law firms in Rhode Island and Massachusetts are also some of the top money-making ones in the U.S. Sixteen of the 20 Massachusetts firms with the most attorneys rank among the country's 200 with the most 2024 revenue, according to Business First research and information released this week by American Lawyer magazine. Several of the top earners also have major presences in Rhode Island, including Nixon Peabody, which repeated at No. 90 among the AmLaw 200, with revenue last year of $621 million. GET TO KNOW YOUR CITY Find Local Events Near You Connect with a community of local professionals. Explore All Events The firm is headquartered in Boston and has 15 offices around the world, including one at Citizens Plaza in Providence. Another Rhode Island firm on the AmLaw 200 list this year is Dallas-based Locke Lord, which also has an office in Providence and last year had $523 million in revenue nationwide. Earlier this year, the firm merged with Troutman Pepper, headquartered in Atlanta and ranked No. 52 on the AmLaw list. In what may be a sign of growing national competition, only two of the 16 Massachusetts firms saw their rankings on the AmLaw 200 rise since the previous roster. The largest firm in the Bay State, Boston-based Ropes & Gray, recorded 2024 revenue of $3.42 billion nationwide and climbed from eighth to seventh among the AmLaw 200. Proskauer Rose, which is headquartered in New York and the 14th-largest firm in Massachusetts, had revenue of $1.39 billion. That pushed the firm up a notch from No. 42 to No. 41 on the list. Other top firms fell or stayed flat on the revenue ranking — despite some of them bringing in more money during 2024 than before. The fifth-largest Massachusetts firm, Choate Hall & Stewart, reported revenue of $379 million in 2024, up 16% from the 2023 total. Yet the firm's rank remains the same, No. 119. The sixth-largest firm, Foley Hoag, had revenue last year of $326 million, a 7.8% increase, according to American Lawyer. But the firm's rank on the AmLaw 200 has declined from No. 125 to No. 132. Among the 20 largest Bay State firms, Goulston & Storrs tumbled the most in revenue rank, from No. 154 on the previous AmLaw list to No. 164 this year. The firm brought in revenue of $227 million during 2024, down 4.4% from the prior-year total. Sign up for Providence Business First's free daily newsletter here Nationwide, the law firm that grossed the most last year was Chicago-based Kirkland & Ellis, whose revenue totaled $8.8 billion. Kirkland's 148-lawyer office in Boston makes the firm the 10th-largest in Massachusetts. Kirkland employs more than 4,000 lawyers nationwide. Ropes & Gray, by comparison, employed 576 Massachusetts lawyers last year, about a third of the firm's total. The Business Journal contacted several of the top-ranked firms for comment, but none were willing to discuss their revenues on the record. The revenue rankings come out as some of the top earners battle growing criticism from the administration of President Donald Trump. WilmerHale, headquartered in Boston and Washington, D.C., is one of several Big Law firms hit recently with presidential sanctions — and that has sued the administration in response. WilmerHale ranks as the fourth-largest Massachusetts law firm by local lawyer headcount, and No. 34 nationally based on revenue of $1.6 billion, according to AmLaw. Last year, the firm ranked No. 31. It's estimated there are more than 460,000 law firms in the U.S. Among the 50 states, Massachusetts is home to the second-largest number of attorneys per capita, after New York, according to the American Bar Association. Rhode Island's Most-Educated ZIP Codes Adults with bachelor's degree or higher Rank Prior Rank ZIP code 1 1 02906 2 2 02806 3 3 02835 View this list
Reuters
09-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
US law firms McDermott and Schulte plan to merge
May 8 (Reuters) - U.S. law firms McDermott, Will & Emery and Schulte, Roth & Zabel are in talks to combine in what would be the latest major legal industry merger, the firms said on Thursday. McDermott and Schulte are "actively finalizing" a merger deal that is expected to become official in the coming months, they said in a joint statement. Chicago-founded McDermott, the larger firm with about 1,400 lawyers, generated more than $2.2 billion in gross revenue in 2024, according to figures reported by The American Lawyer. The firm is known for advising healthcare and other clients in a range of practice areas. New York-founded Schulte, which is focused on advising hedge funds and other private capital clients, brought in more than $618 million in gross revenue last year, according to the American Lawyer. Consolidation has been a theme in the legal industry for decades, as firms seek scale in a quest for increased market share and profitability. Law firm merger activity stayed relatively steady for the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same quarter last year, with 22 completed mergers during the period this year and 21 last year, according to consultancy Fairfax Associates. In a major transatlantic deal last year, London-founded Allen & Overy and New York's Shearman & Sterling combined to create a A&O Shearman, with nearly 4,000 lawyers. There are also several combinations on the horizon. U.S. firm Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel and global legal giant Herbert Smith Freehills are slated to merge on June 1, creating a 2,700-lawyer firm with more than $2 billion in revenue.
Reuters
04-04-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Law firms Kramer Levin and Herbert Smith Freehills approve merger
April 4 (Reuters) - U.S. law firm Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel and global legal giant Herbert Smith Freehills said in a joint statement on Friday that their partners voted to approve a merger, creating a 2,700-lawyer firm. The deal is expected to take effect on June 1. The firms said the combination will create a top 20 firm globally, with over $2 billion in revenue and 26 offices. The two firms had announced plans to merge in November. The combined firm will be called Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer. Kramer Levin has offices in New York, Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. The firm had nearly 340 lawyers and generated more than $435 million in total revenue in 2023, according to figures reported by the American Lawyer. Herbert Smith Freehills is the product of a 2012 merger between London-founded Herbert Smith and Australian law firm Freehills. It has more than 2,400 lawyers in 23 offices globally, with New York as its sole U.S. outpost, according to its website. The firm generated more than $1.6 billion in revenue in 2023, the American Lawyer reported. More than 50 lawyers from Kramer Levin's Paris office, which was not slated to be part of the merger, joined Morgan, Lewis & Bockius at the beginning of the year. Paul Schoeman and Howard Spilko, co-managing partners of New York-founded Kramer Levin, in a Friday statement said combining with HSF "enables us to achieve our shared vision and potential for strategic growth in the U.S." Law firms with roots in the U.K. have long sought growth in the U.S. legal market, including through mergers and partner hires in major U.S. cities. London-founded Allen & Overy and New York's Shearman & Sterling last year completed a transatlantic merger to create A&O Shearman, which has nearly 4,000 lawyers globally.
Politico
27-01-2025
- Business
- Politico
One week out of Washington, Doug Emhoff returns to legal career
Former second gentleman Doug Emhoff is joining the law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, the firm announced Monday, picking up the legal career he put on pause when his wife, former Vice President Kamala Harris, joined the 2020 Democratic ticket. Emhoff will advise the global firm's corporate clients on crises such as 'sensitive investigations' and 'complex litigation,' the firm said, and will split his time between Los Angeles and New York. Willkie employs over 1,200 attorneys worldwide and is one of the country's 50 highest grossing law firms, with $1.5 billion in revenue in 2023, according to the American Lawyer. Its clients include U.S. and international financial services companies, accounting firms, insurance and reinsurance companies, and media companies. Emhoff worked in corporate law for nearly three decades before Harris was elected vice president. In 2000, he co-founded a boutique law firm, which he sold in 2006. He left his partner role at DLA Piper in 2020 after his wife was inaugurated, having stepped aside from his work there during her campaign. His law career focused largely within the entertainment, sports and media industries. Among some of his previous notable clients are Spotify, Lionsgate and former NFL player Willie Gault. He's also taught entertainment law at Georgetown University's law school. While Willkie's announcement draws mostly on Emhoff's legal career, it also boasts his White House experience. As second gentleman, Emhoff represented the United States at diplomatic events like the 2024 Olympics in Paris and helped lead the Biden administration's work to tackle antisemitism. He also helped raise over $1 billion for his wife's presidential campaign last year. 'Doug is trusted by business leaders around the world who have counted on him over the years as an advisor and counselor as they have navigated some of the most complex and dynamic challenges in high-stakes situations,' said Matthew Feldman, chair of Willkie. 'His deep knowledge of global markets, policy and the law will be an invaluable resource to our firm's teams and our clients.'
