Lawmakers Strongly Suggest That Biglaw Firms ‘Disavow’ Trump Deals

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[T]he imposition of numerous conflicts of interest between the terms of the agreement and your current and future potential clients raise significant ethical concerns and possible violations of applicable rules of professional responsibility. Given these concerns, your firm has several grounds upon which to disavow and pause [the agreement]. …

Many of the signatories to this letter are lawyers, and several of us have worked at major law firms. We have deep respect for the long tradition that your firm carries, and we urge you to reconsider your decision — one which we can sympathize with but which we think is a clear mistake — to seemingly capitulate to clear abuse of the law by the Trump administration. We do not wish to prematurely judge or assess guilt. Our aim, however, is to gather comprehensive information with respect to the formation and implementation of the … agreement and resulting legal and ethical quandaries.

— An excerpt from a letter sent by Rep. Dave Min (D-California) and Rep. April Delaney (D-Maryland), as well as 14 of their Democratic colleagues, sent to each of the law firms that made deals with Donald Trump — including Kirkland; Latham; A&O Shearman; Simpson Thacher; Skadden; Willkie Farr; Paul, Weiss; Cadwalader; and Milbank seeking the firms’ “motivations” for entering those deals, how the deals were reached, and what specific terms or promises were made. The letters request a response by May 8.

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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