The chairman of the powerful Paul, Weiss law firm says the firm would have been “destroyed” had President Donald J. Trump not rescinded his executive order barring its lawyers from access to federal officials and business. The presidential directive had targeted Paul, Weiss due to lawfare activities against, for instance, individuals involved in the January 6 Capitol protests, and its association with lawyer Mark Pomerantz, who investigated Trump’s so-called hush money payments to Stormy Daniels.
“The executive order could easily have destroyed our firm. It brought the full weight of the government down on our firm, our people, and our clients,” Paul, Weiss chairman Brad Karp wrote in a letter to staff, noting the firm had faced “an existential crisis.” However, he insists the Trump administration “is not dictating what matters we take on, approving our matters, or anything like that.”
While Karp insisted the firm considered filing a lawsuit against Trump over the executive order, he argued that such an action would not have solved the overall problem faced by the law firm. “[I]t became clear that, even if we were successful in initially enjoining the executive order in litigation, it would not solve the fundamental problem, which was that clients perceived our firm as being persona non grata with the administration,” Karp added.
The order was rescinded after Paul, Weiss agreed to “acknowledged the wrongdoing” of Pomerantz, cease any diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) style hiring practices, and carry out tens of millions of dollars in pro bono work, among other concessions.
The executive order was not isolated to Paul, Weiss; other firms like Perkins Coie also encountered similar decrees and criticism from Trump related to their diversity policies and ties to the Russia hoax.
