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Trump has targeted law firms over past clients, diversity policies

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Paul Weiss pledged $40 million in pro bono work, Trump says

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Firm chairman met with president, according to White House

(Adds background on client firing Paul Weiss in paragraph 17, comment from law professor in paragraphs 18-19)

By Jasper Ward and Mike Scarcella

WASHINGTON, March 20 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he is withdrawing an executive order that targeted law firm Paul Weiss, saying the firm "acknowledged the wrongdoing" of an attorney who investigated the president and has pledged $40 million in free legal work to support the administration.

The surprise move, which comes amid a wave of attacks by the Republican president on prominent law firms, follows a meeting between the president and Paul Weiss' chairman, Brad Karp, according to the White House.

During that meeting, Karp acknowledged the wrongdoing of Mark Pomerantz, a former partner at the New York firm, who was involved in the Manhattan district attorney's investigation into Trump's hush money payments to a porn star, the White House said.

"Paul Weiss agrees that the bedrock principle of American Justice is that it must be fair and nonpartisan for all," said Trump.

Pomerantz, who worked most recently at Paul Weiss until 2022, said in a statement: "I engaged in no wrongdoing by working as a prosecutor to uphold the rule of law."

Paul Weiss did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump's executive order against Paul Weiss suspended its lawyers' security clearances and restricted their access to government buildings and officials, citing the firm's diversity policies and its association with Pomerantz.

Trump said Thursday that Paul Weiss promised to dedicate the equivalent of $40 million in pro bono legal work during the president's term toward administration priorities such as combating antisemitism and support for veterans.

The firm also agreed to audit its employment practices and purge them of any diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, the White House said.

Trump has mounted a broad campaign against DEI practices in government and the private sector that the administration alleges are discriminatory. On Monday the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sent demands to 20 major law firms for detailed information about their diversity initiatives and racial and gender demographics.

The apparent truce between Trump and Paul Weiss is in stark contrast with the response of another firm, Perkins Coie, that sued the administration after it was hit with a similar executive order this month.

A judge in Washington temporarily blocked parts of the Perkins Coie order on March 12, finding the firm was likely to win its lawsuit alleging Trump's actions violated the firm's rights under the U.S. Constitution.

Perkins Coie did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump's decision to rescind the Paul Weiss order.

Paul Weiss' chairman Karp helped raise funds for Trump's 2024 election opponent Kamala Harris. The firm's partners include Loretta Lynch, who was U.S. attorney general during the Democratic Obama administration.

The firm is known for guiding corporate deals on behalf of financial giants like Apollo Global Management ( APO ), Blackstone Group, Citibank and Goldman Sachs ( GS ) , and for handling high-stakes litigation for tech industry clients such as Alphabet's Google and Amazon.com ( AMZN ).

The companies either declined to comment or did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Paul Weiss told a judge in New Jersey on Wednesday that it was fired by a client it was defending in a bribery case because of Trump's order. Perkins Coie in its lawsuit said seven of its clients had left the firm due to the order against it.

Leslie Levin, a University of Connecticut law professor and expert on the legal profession, said Paul Weiss likely feared a client exodus.

"There was no playbook for how to deal with this," she said. (Reporting by Jasper Ward and Mike Scarcella; Editing by Daniel Wallis, David Bario, Gerry Doyle and Stephen Coates)