Director Of Prestigious Skadden Fellows Program Resigns Over Firm’s Pro Bono Payola Deal With Trump

Resignations continue to be announced at Biglaw firms that made deals with Trump over his unlawful executive orders designed to extract financial penalties from them — and the latest departure is quite high-profile. We recently learned that Kathleen Rubenstein, executive director of the Skadden Foundation — the nonprofit entity that handles the highly competitive and highly prestigious Skadden Fellows program — has chosen to leave her position over the elite law firm’s $100 million settlement with the president. As part of that deal, the firm pledged to “fund no fewer than five Skadden Fellows each year.”

These prestigious fellowships, long considered to be the public-interest world’s version of Supreme Court clerkships or Rhodes Scholarships, allow their recipients to pursue public interest work on a full-time basis for two years. As part of Skadden’s agreement with Trump, at least five fellows must “represent a wide range of political views, including conservative ideals,” and work on some of the following projects, including “assisting veterans; ensuring fairness in our justice system; [and] combatting antisemitism,” among other similar legal needs.

As part of her public statement following her resignation (available in full on LinkedIn), Rubenstein, who in fact started her legal career as a Skadden fellow, said:

A commitment to non-profit legal advocacy always required some principles, independence, and fortitude. This work is more important now than ever. It’s also more challenging. Everyday people and advocates continue to stand up in the face of these challenges. They do difficult and sometimes scary work that strengthens the rule of law for all of us.

Funders have many more resources than grantees. We also rarely have our own lives or liberties on the line. The least we can do is act with urgency and courage commensurate with those we support. I felt we had fallen short—or rather, that they haven’t yet risen to that challenge. My hope is that Skadden charts a path that respects the rule of law and honors the core values of the Skadden Foundation. When they do, they’ll preserve and build on the Skadden Foundation’s unparalleled legacy. And I’ll cheer them on, as a former Skadden Fellow.

In further comments given to the Politico Influence(PI) newsletter, Rubenstein said that she chose to resign from the Skadden Foundation, “rather than endorse actions that I believe will undermine its mission.”

When Skadden first announced the deal with Trump, hundreds of former fellows wrote an open letter, expressing their displeasure with the firm. A former fellow spoke with PI, saying, “It’s so disappointing to see that when it really came down to it, Skadden showed how little they care about the fellows and the work we do.”

Skadden has yet to open applications for their 2026 class of fellows, and we imagine it may prove difficult to do so now. Best of luck to Kathleen Rubenstein on her next professional venture.

UPDATE (10:30 a.m.): Skadden has hired Susan Plum as the Foundation’s interim executive director. Here is a statement from the Foundation:

“We are thrilled to have Susan Plum return to the Foundation as Interim Executive Director.  Having closely collaborated with Joe Flom at the Foundation’s inception, Susan has been a guiding force for nearly four decades and will honor our commitment to the Foundation’s enduring mission as we embark on choosing our next round of Fellows. We are grateful for Kathleen’s contributions as Executive Director over the past six years and wish her the best in her future endeavors.”

Skadden attorneys and former Skadden fellows, how do you feel about the firm’s capitulation, and how it will affect the fellowship program? Feel free to sound off by email, by text message (646-820-8477), or by tweet (@ATLblog). An insightful response — we’ll keep you anonymous — could find its way into an update to this story.

Skadden Foundation head quits in protest [Politico Influence]

Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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