Additional Resources And Sources
Exec. Order 14220 (targeting Covington & Burling); White House, Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Directs Suspension of Security Clearances and Evaluation of Government Contracts for Involvement in Government Weaponization (Feb. 25, 2025)
Exec. Order against Perkins Coie, No. 14230; White House, Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Addresses Risks from Perkins Coie LLP (Mar. 6, 2025)
Exec. Order 14237 (targeting Paul, Weiss) (Mar. 14, 2025)
The EEOC sent identical letters to the following twenty law firms: A&O Shearman, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Cooley LLP, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, Goodwin Procter LLP, Hogan Lovells LLP, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Latham & Watkins LLP, McDermott Will & Emery, Milbank LLP, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Morrison & Foerster LLP, Perkins Coie, Reed Smith, Ropes & Gray LLP, Sidley Austin LLP, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, White & Case LLP, and WilmerHale. (Mar. 17, 2025)
Presidential Memorandum, Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court (Fact Sheet) (Mar. 21, 2025)
Presidential Memorandum, Rescinding Security Clearance and Access to Classified Information from Specified Individuals (Mar. 21, 2025)
Exec. Order 14246 (targeting Jenner & Block) (Mar. 25, 2025)
Exec. Order 14250 (targeting WilmerHale) (Mar. 27, 2025)
Exec. Order 14263 (Susman Godfrey) (Apr. 9, 2025)
David McGowan, Unnecessary: Law Firm Executive Orders and the Necessity Defense, Social Science Research Network (Apr. 21, 2025)
Elite Lawyers Must End Their Silence and Unite to Protect the Justice System, Lawyers Defending American Democracy (Apr. 23, 2025)
Nancy Rapoport, Scrappy or Strategic: Law Firm Decision Making in Light of Executive Orders, Social Science Research Network (Nov. 4, 2025)
University of California, Berkeley School of Law Profiles in Legal Courage: Standing Up for the Rule of Law, (Nov. 19, 2025)
Relevant Articles
Michael Sisak, ABC Agrees to Give $15 Million to Donald Trump’s Presidential Library to Settle Defamation Lawsuit, Associated Press (Dec. 14, 2024)
Katie Phang, The Bill Has Come Due, Substack (Feb. 16, 2025)
Michael S. Schmidt & David Enrich, How a Major Democratic Law Firm Ended Up Bowing to Trump, N.Y. Times (Mar. 21, 2025)
Lauren Edmonds, Read the Email Paul Weiss Chairman Brad Karp Sent to Staff after Striking a Deal with Trump: ‘Clients Perceived our Firm as Being Persona Non Grata’, Business Insider (Mar. 23, 2025)
Daniel Barnes, Major Law Firm Strikes Preemptive Deal with White House, Politico (Mar. 28, 2025)
John Morley, Why Paul Weiss Struck a Deal with Trump, Wall St. J. (Mar. 28, 2025)
John Keker, Robert Van Nest & Elliot Peters, Our Law Firm Won’t Cave to Trump, Who Will Join Us?, N.Y. Times (Mar. 30, 2025)
Amelia Pollard, James Fontanella-Khan, Sujeet Indap & Stefania Palma, How Trump Is Exploiting Big Law’s Identity Crisis, Financial Times (Apr. 2, 2025)
Jessica Silver-Greenberg, Matthew Goldstein & Michael S. Schmidt, Inside Elite Law Firms, Protests and Quitting After Trump Deals, N.Y. Times (Apr. 2, 2025)
Ben Protess, Maggie Haberman & Michael Schmidt, How Trump Is Putting Law Firms in a No Win Situation, N.Y. Times (Apr. 9, 2025)
Jessica SilverGreenberg & Matthew Goldstein, Top Pro Bono Leader Resigns from Paul Weiss, a Firm Hit in Trump’s Crackdown on Big Law, N.Y. Times (Apr. 9, 2025)
Sam Baker, Law Firms Pledge Almost $1 Billion in Free Work to Trump, Axios (Apr. 12, 2025)
Adam Unikowsky, Why My Firm Is Standing Up for the Constitution, The Atlantic (Apr. 14, 2025)
Debra Cassens Weiss, Resignations Multiply at BigLaw Firms that Made Deals with Trump, ABA Journal (Apr. 16, 2025)
Justin Henry, Cadwalader Partners Hit Exit Following Firm’s Deal with Trump, Bloomberg Law (May 9, 2025)
Michael S. Schmidt, Four Prominent Partners Departing Paul Weiss to Form a New Firm, N.Y. Times (May 26, 2025)
Jessica Toonkel, Paramount Agrees to Pay $16 Million to Settle Lawsuit by Trump, Wall St. J. (July 2, 2025)
Kathryn Rubino, Bevy of Willkie Partners Depart for Big Law Firm That Will Actually Stand Up for the Rule of Law, Above the Law (June 13, 2025)
Justin Jouvenal, Trump Officials Accused of Defying 1 in 3 Judges Who Ruled Against Him, Wash. Post (July 21, 2025)
Aditya Soni, Trump Demands ‘Highly Conflicted’ Intel CEO Resign over China Ties, Reuters (Aug. 8, 2025)
Michael Schmidt, Matthew Goldstein & Maggie Haberman, Two Big Law Firms Said to Be Doing Free Work for Trump Administration, N.Y. Times (Aug. 20, 2025)
Tony Romm & Anna Swanson, After U.S. Takes Stake in Intel, Trump Pledges ‘Many More’ Deals, N.Y. Times (Aug. 25, 2025)
Suzanne Monyak, Federal Judges Got Over 500 Threats Since October, Marshals Say, Bloomberg Law (Sep. 10, 2025)
Sebastian Herrera, Trump Calls for Firing of Microsoft Global Affairs Chief, Wall St. J. (Sep. 27, 2025)
David Lat, Jeannie Rhee Left Paul Weiss to Launch Dunn Isaacson Rhee, Original Jurisdiction, Substack (Oct. 1, 2025)
Fabio Bertoni, What If the Big Law Firms Hadn’t Caved to Trump?, New Yorker (Oct. 25, 2025)
Ryan Mancini, Dimon on JPMorgan Chase Not Donating to White House Ballroom, The Hill (Nov. 6, 2025)
Chris Opher, Perkins Coie to Merge with Ashurst in Latest Big Law Tie-Up, Bloomberg Law (Nov. 17, 2025)
Ryan Boysen, D.O.J. Challenges ABA’s Standing in Law Firm Intimidation Suit, Law360 (Dec. 22, 2025)
Ella Lee, Trump’s Judicial Battles Raise Profiles of Federal Judges, The Hill (Jan. 3, 2026)
John Hughes & Alessandra Rafferty, Karp Steps Down as Paul Weiss Chairman After Epstein Emails, Bloomberg Law (Feb. 4, 2026)
Justin Henry, Perkins Coie Departures Bring McGuireWoods, MoFo to Seattle, Bloomberg Law (Feb. 5, 2026)
Justin Henry, Law Firms Suing Trump Will Make Appeals Arguments on Same Day, Bloomberg Law (Feb. 6, 2026)
Justin Henry, Big Law’s Diversity Reckoning Fizzles as EEOC Ends Investigation, Bloomberg Law (Feb. 9, 2026)
Erin Mulvaney & Ryan Barber, Trump Administration Drops Defense of Law Firm Sanctions, Wall St. J. (Mar. 2, 2026)
Meghan Tribe, Kirkland Pressed by Democrats on Epshteyn’s Role in Trump Deal, Bloomberg Law (Mar. 2, 2026)
Jonah E. Bromwich, Michael S. Schmidt & Devlin Barrett, Trump Administration, in Reversal, Tries to Continue Fight Against Law Firms, N.Y. Times (Mar. 3, 2026)