Biglaw’s Trump Deals Have Chilling Effect On Pro Bono

The deals nine Biglaw firms struck with Donald Trump are the talk of the industry — something about craven capitulation will do that. Over the course of the deals, Trump has accumulated a $940 million war chest of pro bono payola. And though the surrendering firms try to downplay the terms of the deals, Trump keeps turning the screws making it worse and worse. Just like Darth Vader.

But it’s also tough out there for the sorts of public interest causes — civil rights, voting rights, immigration, reproductive freedom — that *actually* need the pro bono services of Biglaw firms. A senior Biglaw partner told CNN’s Katelyn Polantz, “I know from talking to organizations, they are having a hell of a time finding firms to partner with. Firms are really gun shy to take on cases that may upset the administration.”

The sentiment was echoed by Juan Proaño, the CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) — the largest Hispanic and Latin-American civil rights organization in the country, “The sea has parted. There are some firms that are much more reserved about their engagement.”

LULAC knows from firsthand experience. The organization has partnered with Paul, Weiss on many pro bono matters, but when PW struck a deal with Trump, all that was thrown into question. Before the deal was announced, PW called LULAC and withdrew from a matter the firm had been working on. Fortunately, when news broke that PW dropped a client over the Trump deal, the firm reversed course. A firm spokesperson said they are “proud to represent LULAC in this matter, look forward to future representations, and have enormous respect for their work.”

But it really is an existential question for these organizations. “We cannot do this work without the support of the legal community and without the significant benefit of legal services that they provide,” Proaño told CNN. “We rely on the ability to have access to these lawyers and these law firms.”

Somehow the situation LULAC finds itself in feels a lot more dire than any “existential crisis” Paul Weiss faced. As a reminder, Paul Weiss made $2,634,166,000 in gross revenue last year.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.

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