WASHINGTON — Dozens of alumni of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Garrison & Wharton are blasting the law firm’s decision to cut a deal with the White House to avoid the actions President Donald Trump sought to impose against it in an executive order earlier this month.
In an open letter to the firm’s chairman, Brad Karp, the former employees said they were “deeply outraged” by what they called a “craven surrender” to the Trump administration at a time in which they argued the legal profession was under threat.
“During the first Trump administration, Paul, Weiss lawyers, including many of us, fought to protect civil and human rights with the firm’s support,” the alumni wrote. “That is why it came as a shock to find the firm at the very forefront of capitulation to the Trump administration’s bullying tactics.”
The letter — signed by former employees from a range of generations – goes on to note the threats currently being issued against judges and requests that the chairman issue an “unambiguous statement” rejecting the administration’s “attacks on the courts and the rule of law.” More than 40 of those who signed onto the letter did so anonymously out of fear of the repercussions in their careers.
“My fear is that other law firms follow suit and fundamental constitutional values—the right to counsel, the right to free speech and assembly—crumble,” Elizabeth J. Grossman, one of the signatories of the letter added in her own statement.
Trump last week announced he was rescinding an executive order signed earlier this month that sought to suspend security clearances for attorneys and other employees at Paul Weiss, terminate any federal contracts for the firm and its clients, and and restrict government access to the firm’s personnel. The decision to revoke the order came after what the White House referred to as a “remarkable change of course” from the New York-based firm after Karp agreed to policy changes, including shifting its hiring and promotion practices away from considering diversity, equity and inclusion and dedicating $40 million in pro bono legal services to aid Trump administration priorities specifically related to veterans and combating antisemitism.
In the case of Paul Weiss, the president’s initial executive order seeking to impose negative actions against the firm focused on its onetime employee, Mark Pomerantz, who was involved in an investigation into Trump’s finances by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, as a rationale. But Paul Weiss is one of several law firms that have found themselves in the president’s crosshairs since his return to office.
Trump signed a similar executive order seeking to suspend security clearances and restrict access to federal buildings for those at Perkins Coie, which has since sued the administration. Another order signed by the president aims to suspend security clearances of some at Covington & Burling.
Separately, Trump over the weekend signed a presidential memorandum directing the attorney general to recommend sanctions or other actions, such as suspending security clearances, against attorneys or law firms that “engage in frivolous, unreasonable, and vexatious litigation.”
Karp over the weekend told employees of Paul Weiss in an email reported by multiple outlets that he felt obligated to make the deal with the Trump administration because the executive order could have “easily have destroyed our firm.”
One day after rescinding the executive order, Trump on Friday countered a question from a reporter about whether his actions against law firms are coercion, saying “the law firms all want to make deals.”
“You mean the law firms that we’re going after, that went after me for four years ruthlessly, violently, illegally?” Trump said.
“They’re not babies. They’re very sophisticated people,” he added. “Those law firms did bad things.”
