Within the White House, advisers to Donald Trump took satisfaction in their ability to intimidate Paul, Weiss – one of the leading law firms in the United States – and witnessed its chair voicing criticism of a former partner who attempted to persuade the US president to retract an executive order that jeopardized the firm’s operational capacity.
Last week, Trump issued an executive order that barred the firm’s attorneys from obtaining security clearances, annulled any federal government contracts it held, and restricted its employees from entering federal facilities on national security grounds.
That executive order was rescinded on Thursday after Trump deemed he had gained significant concessions, and the chair of Paul, Weiss, Brad Karp, voiced disapproval of Mark Pomerantz, who had tried to establish a criminal case against Trump at the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
As part of the arrangement, the firm also pledged to provide $40 million in pro bono legal services over the next four years to initiatives endorsed by Trump and consented to an audit of its hiring practices to eliminate any diversity, equity, and inclusion recruiting efforts.
However, the most remarkable aspect of the agreement, widely seen as degrading for Paul, Weiss, was that Trump had not made any specific demands of the firm, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation. The commitments, especially the dismissal of Pomerantz, were proactively offered by Karp during a White House meeting this week, the sources revealed.
This deal signified a notable new phase in Trump’s campaign of retaliation against several prominent law firms he perceives as having supported efforts to prosecute him while he was out of office – and how he has leveraged the expansive power of the presidency to bring them under control.
It raises the possibility that Trump and his advisers, emboldened by their success over Paul, Weiss, may now feel encouraged to target similar firms that challenge the administration. After the executive order was rescinded, some aides discreetly celebrated that a precedent had been established.
This incident also highlighted how Trump has fractured the legal landscape as it struggles to unite behind a coherent strategy. Paul, Weiss chose negotiation over taking a stance similar to Perkins Coie, which faced repercussions for once employing a lawyer affiliated with Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign.
The agreement with Paul, Weiss emerged in recent days through a series of unprecedented moves that neither a prominent law firm of its stature nor a sitting president has likely ever considered, the sources indicated.
Trump’s executive order aimed at Paul Weiss took Washington by surprise, arriving just two days after a federal judge in the district ruled that a nearly identical order against Perkins Coie was likely unconstitutional and issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting it from taking effect.
Nevertheless, Trump has become increasingly undeterred by unfavorable court rulings at the beginning of his second term and declared he was punishing Paul, Weiss for its associations with Pomerantz and another lawyer who filed a lawsuit against January 6 Capitol rioters.
The order was sweeping and threatened to inflict lasting harm on Paul, Weiss’s ability to operate. Its attorneys require security clearances to review sensitive contracts and documents relevant to their clients, and being barred from entering government facilities could extend to federal courthouses.
Over the weekend, the leadership of Paul, Weiss held discussions about possible responses, weighing the options of either negotiating concessions with Trump or hiring William Burck, the co-managing partner of Quinn Emanuel, to represent them in a lawsuit against Trump.
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As Paul, Weiss braced for potential court action, it also pursued a strategy to establish back-channel communications with Trump and his aides personally, presenting a proposal at the start of the week.
Trump’s advisers recognized their relative advantage over Paul, Weiss, as the firm had already begun to lose clients due to the executive order, the sources stated. Paul, Weiss revealed in court documents this week that Steven Schwartz, the former chief legal officer of Cognizant Technologies, had terminated the firm from a case.
Karp returned to the White House on Wednesday to deliver his second offer, which included condemning Pomerantz to Trump and a select group of advisers, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, envoy Steve Witkoff, and the president’s personal counsel Boris Epshteyn.
During the roughly three-hour meeting, Trump also contacted Robert Giuffra of Sullivan and Cromwell, the head of one of Paul, Weiss’s closest competitors, to solicit his input. Ultimately, Trump consented to the deal, albeit with what appears to have been a final facet of humiliation.
The wording that Karp had seemingly agreed upon with the White House did not reference Pomerantz and DEI, according to a source familiar with the situation. However, when Trump announced the agreement on social media, it included a statement from the White House asserting that Karp had “acknowledged the wrongdoing” of Pomerantz.
