Trump's War on Big Law: 'No Firm Too Big to Be Attacked'

Judge James Boasberg began the process of holding Trump administration officials in contempt of court last week as he struggles to get them to follow his orders around the deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members. That contempt process was halted a few days later by an appellate court, but Boasberg's actions raised questions about how it might play out if he or another federal judge did eventually fine or attempt to jail recalcitrant executive branch officials. Could Justice Department lawyers get arrested? Would the U.S. Marshals Service be arresting them? And what if the president orders it not to? On today's episode of our podcast, On The Merits, Rutgers University law professor David Noll walks us through how these contempt proceedings might work and what the personal consequences would be for Justice Department lawyers caught up in an escalating standoff. Noll also talks about how judges may be able to get around a President who orders US Marshals to stand down: deputizing local police officers. Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Like a run on a bank, law firms can quickly collapse if a few rainmakers pick up and take their books of business elsewhere—a vicious cycle that's hard to stop once it gets going. That's the takeaway from a law review article by Yale professor John Morley. He says a partner exodus can happen quickly because there's a huge financial incentive not to be one of the last partners remaining at a firm. That dynamic is on many partners' minds right now as they debate whether to fight the White House's punitive executive orders. For this episode of our podcast, On The Merits, Morley spoke with Bloomberg Law reporter Roy Strom about how these so-called "runs on the partnership" can play out and about which types of firms are the most vulnerable to a catastrophic implosion. Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Law firms are striking deals with President Trump to avoid getting hit with a punitive executive order, and all of these deals include pledges of tens of millions of dollars in pro bono legal work. In this quickly changing landscape, it appears that the biggest law firm in the country, Kirkland & Ellis, is considering one of these commitments to the White House. However, the details of how these deals will work in practice are scant to nonexistent. How will the legal work be tracked? What qualifies as a conservative client? Can the White House reject certain clients as not conservative enough? And does this mean these firms will now turn away liberal-leaning pro bono clients? On today's episode of our podcast, On The Merits, Bloomberg Law reporters Justin Henry and Meghan Tribe dig into the questions surrounding these law firm deals and ask whether this ambiguity is by design. They also talk about what it means that a firm as big as Kirkland is now choosing to negotiate with the White House rather than fight it in court. Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

"I cannot imagine a worse deal than the one that Skadden came away with." That's the opinion of one of the law firm's own associates, Rachel Cohen. The Chicago-based finance lawyer has grabbed the spotlight by criticizing Skadden and Paul Weiss for reaching agreements with President Donald Trump as he targets Big Law through a series of executive orders. She's also slammed others for staying quiet, even as three major firms fight Trump directives in court. "The industry is not uniting," said Cohen, who is set to officially leave the firm later this week. "We have to be proactive here and we've not seen that from anyone except for associates." Late last week, President Trump said that, to avoid being targeted by a punitive executive order, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom agreed to provide $100 million worth of pro bono services to causes Trump supports. This is $60 million more than was offered in a similar deal struck by the firm Paul Weiss weeks earlier. Even before this, Cohen had already put in her resignation, which will take effect later this week. More than 1,500 Big Law associates anonymously signed an open letter criticizing the industry's response to Trump's attacks. Cohen chose not to remain anonymous. Now she's calling on Big Law associates to go on a "recruitment strike" and refuse to do any recruitment for their firms until partners take a stronger stance against Trump. On this episode of our podcast, On The Merits, Cohen speaks with Bloomberg Law editor Jessie Kokrda Kamens about her reaction to the Skadden deal and about what power associates have in this ongoing battle between Big Law and the White House. "Associates are the workhorses," she said. "And the partners certainly do not want to be responsible for the work that they historically farm out to associates." Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The US legal industry was already in a tough spot before President Donald Trump started attacking Big Law firms. Gloomy economic conditions and tariff-related uncertainty quickly tanked law firm leaders' expectations for a rebound that followed Trump's election. They're looking to stay off the president's target list in a wave of executive orders, while navigating a slowdown in deals activity and across practice groups. "From cautiously optimistic to cautious." That's how Gretta Rusanow described the mood shift she's seen in recent weeks among managing partners at some of the country's biggest law firms. Rusanow, the leader of Citigroup's law firm advisory group, says firms are feeling much more bearish now than at the end of last year. There's potential for an economic contraction, she says, and the fact that the huge revenue growth of prior years is now looking more like an aberration. Even as the country's elite firms come off of a record year for revenue and profits. Rusanow joins our podcast, On The Merits, to talk about why 2025 likely won't see the industry outperform its average growth numbers. She also tells Bloomberg Law reporter Roy Strom that any overachieving that does happen this year will likely flow toward just a handful of the largest firms. Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

President Donald Trump has targeted major law firms in his second term in unprecedented ways. He hit three Big Law firms with executive orders that pose potentially existential threats to those firms. Then on March 21, the Trump administration issued a broad memo targeting any lawyer who files “frivolous, unreasonable, and even vexatious litigation against the United States.” On this podcast episode we’re talking about yet another way the administration is going after firms. Andrea Lucas, the acting chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, sent a letter to 20 major firms such as Kirkland & Ellis, Skadden, and Simpson Thacher requesting extensive documentation to investigate whether their Diversity Equity and Inclusion programs are discriminatory. The EEOC is asking for names, gender, race, law school and GPA information for all who have applied to be hired since 2019. Joining the podcast are two Bloomberg Law reporters who are following this story, Business & Practice reporter Tatyana Monnay and EEOC reporter Rebecca Klar. Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

After Donald Trump won the presidential election, dealmakers at corporations—and the Big Law lawyers that represent them—were optimistic about the prospects for increased corporate mergers and acquisitions. But the first two months of 2025 have fallen far short of expectations. Not only have deal tallies been lower than hoped, they are the lowest in five years. On this episode of our podcast, On The Merits, Bloomberg Law's Mahira Dayal talks about what this slowdown means for law firms. Also, Hogan Lovells partner Mahvesh Qureshi discusses the current M&A environment and what it will take to get deals moving in the coming months. Qureshi leads the firm's Corporate and Finance group for the Americas, is a member of their global board, as well as a member of the firm’s Global Tech M&A leadership team. Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The White House has now hit several of the largest law firms in the world with directives that strip their attorneys of security clearances and order federal agencies to scrap contracts they hold with the firms' clients. Paul Weiss is the most recent target, but there's reason to believe it won't be the last. Bloomberg Law reporter Tatyana Monnay says it's now clear that "there's no firm too big to be attacked." In an executive order targeting law firm Perkins Coie, Trump said he was looking into at last 15 other firms for noncompliance of the law due to DEI initiatives. On this episode of On The Merits, Monnay and fellow Bloomberg Law reporter Justin Henry talk about what's happening with the orders and how things are going with Perkins Coie, which fought back against the White House in court. They also discuss why even getting vindication before a judge may not be enough to stave off severe financial damage. Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Kirkland & Ellis, the world's largest law firm by revenue, brought in more than $100 million last year from just one of its clients: Blackstone Inc. That's more than double the amount Kirkland earned from the private equity giant in 2023. The dollar amount itself is eye-popping, but also notable is that we even know this information at all. Blackstone was required to disclose the payments in investor filings late last month because a Kirkland partner, Reg Brown, sits on its board. On this episode of our podcast, On The Merits, we talk with Bloomberg Law's Brian Baxter about what Kirkland has been doing for Blackstone, the strong professional and personal ties between the two companies, and what the massive fees tally means for the law firm that typically handle's most of Blackstone's business, Wall Street's Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett. Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a mainstay of corporate culture for the last quarter-century, and has cost companies millions, sometimes even billions, of dollars in fines. And that’s before you start counting the lawyers’ fees. This law, used to prevent US businesses from engaging in bribery to win foreign business, has seen a major uptick in enforcement over the last 25 years. And, over that period, it has become a major revenue driver for elite law firms. Some say that the law keeps companies honest, and actually benefits corporations by providing them a shield for responding to requests for bribes. But last month President Donald Trump said the law “sounds good on paper but in practicality, it’s a disaster.” Trump signed an executive order pausing the initiation of new investigations for 180 days and meanwhile ordering the AG to issue updated guidelines. On the latest episode of On The Merits, leading FCPA practitioner, Martin Weinstein, the chair of Cadwalader’s compliance, investigations & enforcement practice, talks about the impacts of a law he calls the “greatest tariff in the US Code” and what it could mean for business if enforcement winds down. And Bloomberg Law reporter Roy Strom discusses the impact on large law firms, which have built premier practices focusing on this law. Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.