Paul Weiss’s Shameful Surrender Makes Every Lawyer There Complicit In Trumpian Constitutional Desecration

Legal Issues

from the a-complete-joke dept

In what may be one of the most shameful displays of institutional cowardice we’ve seen, law firm Paul Weiss has completely capitulated to Donald Trump’s ridiculously unconstitutional executive order targeting the firm. This cave-in comes mere days after another targeted firm, Perkins Coie, successfully obtained a court order blocking an almost identical order. The contrast could not be more stark: one law firm stood up for basic constitutional principles, while another folded at the first sign of pressure.

Paul Weiss, a firm that has long touted its commitment to democratic principles, had multiple obvious paths to fight this blatantly unconstitutional order. They could have filed their own challenge or sought to join Perkins Coie’s successful case. Instead, they chose perhaps the worst possible option: complete surrender.

In short, they caved. They folded like a cheap suit. They made it clear that Paul Weiss not only won’t fight for its clients, it won’t fight for itself.

The announcement of the total and complete capitulation came via a post by Donald Trump on Truth Social:

The full text is insane. If I were a lawyer at Paul Weiss, I would be looking for another job, starting immediately. Everything about this is shameful.

Today, President Donald J. Trump agreed to withdraw his March 14, 2025 Executive Order regarding the Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP law firm (“Paul, Weiss”), which has entered into the following agreement with the President: 1. Paul, Weiss agrees that the bedrock principle of American Justice is that it must be fair and nonpartisan for all. Our Justice System is betrayed when it is misused to achieve political ends.

Lawyers and law firms play a vital role in ensuring that we live up to that standard as a Nation. Law firms should not favor any political party when it comes to choosing their clients. Firms also should not make decisions on whom to hire based on a person’s political affiliation. To do otherwise is to deny some Americans an equal opportunity for our services while favoring others.  

Lawyers abandon the profession’s highest ideals when they engage in partisan decision-making, and betray the ethical obligation to represent those who are unpopular or disfavored in a particular environment.  

2. Paul, Weiss affirms its unwavering commitment to these core ideals and principles, and will not deny representation to clients, including in pro bono matters and in support of non-profits, because of the personal political views of individual lawyers.  

3. Paul, Weiss will take on a wide range of pro bono matters that represent the full spectrum of political viewpoints of our society, whether “conservative” or “liberal.”

4. Paul, Weiss affirms its commitment to merit-based hiring, promotion, and retention, and will not adopt, use, or pursue any DEI policies. As part of its commitment, it will engage experts, to be mutually agreed upon within 14 days, to conduct a comprehensive audit of all of its employment practices.

5. Paul, Weiss will dedicate the equivalent of $40 million in pro bono legal services over the course of President Trump’s term to support the Administration’s initiatives, including: assisting our Nation’s veterans, fairness in the Justice System, the President’s Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, and other mutually agreed projects.

Statement from the White House: “The President is agreeing to this action in light of a meeting with Paul, Weiss Chairman, Brad Karp, during which Mr. Karp acknowledged the wrongdoing of former Paul, Weiss partner, Mark Pomerantz, the grave dangers of Weaponization, and the vital need to restore our System of Justice.”

In response to the President’s announcement, Paul, Weiss’s Chairman Brad 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.”

Yes, the executive order was a potential existential threat to the existence of Paul Weiss, but that’s why you fight it, rather than cave. Everything about this decision is ridiculous and puts anything that Paul Weiss does from here on out at an incredibly suspect level.

The pro bono requirements in this agreement are perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this capitulation. Trump’s original executive order bizarrely attacked Paul Weiss’s pro bono work as harmful, claiming it somehow deprived others of access to justice:

Additionally, they have sometimes done so on behalf of clients, pro bono, or ostensibly “for the public good” — potentially depriving those who cannot otherwise afford the benefit of top legal talent the access to justice deserved by all.  My Administration will no longer support taxpayer funds sponsoring such harm  

This Orwellian logic — that providing free legal services somehow reduces access to justice — is incredibly dangerous. But rather than challenge this absurd reasoning, Paul Weiss has now agreed to redirect $40 million worth of pro bono work specifically “to support the Administration’s initiatives.” In other words, they’ve agreed to let the government dictate how they allocate their charitable legal services.

This is nothing less than government compelled speech – a textbook First Amendment violation. The government is explicitly forcing a private entity to dedicate resources to supporting specific political initiatives. That a major law firm would accept such an obviously unconstitutional demand, rather than challenge it as Perkins Coie did, represents a complete abdication of their professional responsibilities.

The agreement’s Orwellian doublespeak only compounds the offense. While claiming to prevent “partisan decision-making,” it literally requires the firm to engage in partisan pro bono work supporting specific administration initiatives. And everyone (including the firm’s current and potential clients) knows exactly what happened here.

And, even if their earlier work was “partisan” (it wasn’t really, the firm worked for Fox News!), being partisan is core political speech and association rights protected by the First Amendment. The attack on that violates the First Amendment.

The silence from those who previously claimed that mere suggestions from the Biden administration to social media companies constituted First Amendment violations is deafening. Here we have explicit government compulsion of speech and association rights, backed by threats of economic destruction, yet these supposed defenders of the First Amendment are nowhere to be found.

This capitulation, even more than the original unconstitutional order, should mark the end of Paul Weiss as we know it. A law firm that won’t even defend its own constitutional rights cannot be trusted to defend anyone else’s. Any current Paul Weiss attorney with an ounce of professional integrity should be updating their resume — not just because of the shame of this surrender, but because the firm has demonstrated it will abandon principle at the first sign of serious pressure.

History has shown repeatedly that appeasing authoritarianism only invites more aggressive demands. The MAGA movement’s pattern of escalating bullying after each successful intimidation is well documented. Paul Weiss’s surrender, especially after watching Perkins Coie successfully obtain an immediate restraining order against an identical threat, signals to every would-be autocrat that even our most powerful legal institutions can be cowed through raw intimidation.

And, as if to immediately prove that capitulating won’t lead Trump to stop the bullying, soon after the surrender was announced, the NY Times revealed that despite Paul Weiss’ chairman, the powerful Brad Karp, spending days working out the exact wording of the “agreement” with Trump people, the statement that Trump posted? Wasn’t what they agreed to. Trump simply added in all that nonsense about DEI.

According to two people familiar with the matter, the White House and Mr. Karp had reached an agreement on the wording of the statement. But despite that agreement, the wording of the statement changed, including a reference to the fact that the firm would “not adopt, use, or pursue any DEI policies.”

Trump altered the deal. And everyone has to know he may alter it further.

The damage here goes far beyond one law firm’s reputation. Paul Weiss has just helped normalize government compelled speech and association, while providing a blueprint for future attacks on the independence of the legal profession. Any lawyer who remains at the firm after this isn’t just accepting a resume stain — they’re becoming complicit in the steady erosion of core constitutional principles that the legal profession is supposed to defend.

Filed Under: 1st amendment, donald trump, executive orders, free association, lawyers, legal profession, political speech, pro bono
Companies: paul weiss