Law firm Paul Weiss defends deal with Trump as lawyers sound alarm

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Powerful Wall Street law firm Paul Weiss faced heavy criticism on Friday over a deal it struck with the White House to escape an executive order imperiling its business, even as some lawyers said the firm faced few other options.

Lawyers at some companies and law firms skewered Paul Weiss online for capitulating to U.S. Republican President Donald Trump by donating $40 million in free legal work to support his administration's causes and appearing to scrap internal diversity policies.

Marc Elias, a former Perkins Coie partner and a top lawyer for Democrats, assailed the Paul Weiss agreement in a social media post late on Thursday, calling it "a stain on the firm, every one of its partners, and the entire legal profession."

Trump has attacked major law firms for weeks over their work for his Democratic adversaries and their internal diversity policies, amid broader moves by the president to use funding cuts and other measures to pressure universities and private companies to follow his priorities.

In an internal email to its lawyers, viewed by Reuters, Paul Weiss Chairman Brad Karp defended the agreement, saying it was in line with the firm's principles, including a commitment to remaining politically independent.

The firm, with more than 1,000 lawyers, major financial and technology industry clients and longstanding Democratic Party ties, would be free to focus on its client work now that the executive order had been rescinded, Karp said.

Karp's email included a copy of the agreement with Trump that said the firm would hire and promote lawyers based on merit. The agreement circulated by Trump on Thursday had additional language, saying the firm agreed it "will not adopt, use, or pursue any DEI policies."

Spokespeople for Paul Weiss and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the discrepancy.

The order against Paul Weiss had cited its association with a prosecutor who investigated the president and the firm's internal diversity policies. The order suspended security clearances for the firm's lawyers and restricted their access to government buildings and officials.

A person with knowledge of Paul Weiss' decision said it considered suing the administration over the executive order before making the deal, but believed even a successful case would scare off clients with business or litigation involving the federal government.

A criminal defendant facing bribery charges fired Paul Weiss earlier this week because of Trump's order, but the defendant's new lawyers said in court papers on Friday that he was reconsidering after the firm's agreement with the president.

Legal experts said Trump's orders against Paul Weiss and another big firm, Perkins Coie, marked an unprecedented attack on their ability to do business.

The order against Perkins Coie was "life-threatening" to the firm, its lawyer said last week in that firm's ongoing lawsuit against the administration. 

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Friday, Trump said "the law firms all want to make deals," saying law firms "went after me for four years, ruthlessly, violently, illegally."

Trump in an earlier order suspended security clearances for two lawyers at Covington & Burling who represent Jack Smith, the U.S. special counsel who brought criminal charges against Trump in two cases.

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, expanding the administration's legal industry crackdown.

CLIENT, RECRUITING CONCERNS

Paul Weiss could face blowback from some of its lawyers and clients over its truce with Trump, said University of Connecticut law professor and legal industry expert Leslie Levin, but she said the firm likely saw a deal as the safest way forward.

The White House said on Thursday that Trump had met with Karp, a longtime Democratic fundraiser and top outside lawyer for financial companies, and worked out the accord.

Numerous lawyers, including some with links to Paul Weiss, took to social media to criticize the deal.

Molly Coleman, a former Paul Weiss summer associate and current executive director of the People's Parity Project, called the move "unbelievably shameful" and said Paul Weiss had "failed to find the courage the moment requires."

"Embarrassed to be associated with this firm today," a lawyer who previously worked at Paul Weiss, Cindy Chang, wrote in a LinkedIn comment that was later deleted. Chang did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Paul Weiss may be dealt a setback in recruiting young lawyers because of its apparent retreat from diversity commitments that have spread through law firms in recent years, and are now under attack from Trump, some lawyers said.

"This is a generation that expects to see diversity and inclusion in the workplace," said Nikia Gray, executive director of the National Association for Law Placement.

(Reporting by Mike Scarcella in Washington and Sara Merken in New York; Editing by David Bario, Richard Chang and Rosalba O'Brien)