General Discussion

Well ain’t this some shit. Faced with an Executive Order — described by the right as designed to bankrupt the firm — Paul Weiss chairman Brad Karp kissed the ring of Donald Trump.

As noted by Anna Bower of Lawfare, Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that Karp “acknowledged the wrongdoing” of former partner Mark Pomeratz as part of his offering. For the record, the “wrongdoing” was joining Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in the successful prosecution of Donald Trump.

Karp also agreed to eliminate all DEI programs at the firm within 14 days, provide $40 million in pro bono services to Trump initiatives, and to abandon partisan decision making in its representations (whatever that means).

https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:t4x2ruk2qmob2b2cx55h4v7r/post/3lktrepo5tk2l

Link to tweet

This is all taken from Trump’s post so the usual grains of salt might apply, but this is one of Trump’s “not-ALL-CAPS” posts, which usually mean they’ve been vetted and written by someone else.

As a result of this servile positioning, Trump rescinded the executive order targeting the firm.

This bodes absolutely terribly for the industry. It’s an admission from one of the biggest and most powerful law firms in the nation that fighting a likely unconstitutional Executive Order in court just isn’t worth it. The harm that the Trump administration can bring is too great, and the court system is unable to counter the blatant lawlessness the far right is engaged in.