Legal Analyst
Appearances
20/20
The Lies Beneath
She is facing three possible charges, second degree murder being the biggest one, up to life in prison.
Sea of Lies from Uncover
S32 E7: Plausible, Intelligent and Ruthless | Sea of Lies
How severely damaged, maybe even reduced to tatters to some extent, do you think the defense is right now?
The Journal.
Trump's Attack on Big Law
It's pretty fair to say it's a way to come after people that had brought legal challenges against him before or done research and opposition work for people that were his opponents in the past.
The Journal.
Trump's Attack on Big Law
If a lawyer handles a case, say, for a government official, and there are sensitive materials involved in that investigation, in order to represent that client adequately, he or she would need some kind of security clearance and access to that material.
The Journal.
Trump's Attack on Big Law
So many things are federal buildings. Obviously, if you can't go to a federal court to represent your client, it would make it pretty limiting to represent that client. And probably most significantly, it directed agencies to investigate any federal contracts that the firm or its clients have and remove them.
The Journal.
Trump's Attack on Big Law
So many of the big companies that they represent... have very lucrative federal contracts. And if they work with that firm, they will lose it.
The Journal.
Trump's Attack on Big Law
It would be very meaningful to lose their clients. These law firms do make relationships with clients over a long period of time. So that's why it was pretty existential and could potentially destroy a firm. Losing their clients, that's kind of their main currency.
The Journal.
Trump's Attack on Big Law
So Perkins Coie took the case to court and immediately got an emergency injunction that blocked the order from taking effect.
The Journal.
Trump's Attack on Big Law
They've pushed back in court. I listened to the hearing. And since they have also called for the judge to be removed, the upshot of what the Justice Department lawyer was arguing is that the president should have the power to say who or what institution creates a national security risk and should have that discretion. That's the main legal argument that they have on their side.
The Journal.
Trump's Attack on Big Law
The law firm is one of the nation's top firms. It has 1,200 lawyers. It has some of the biggest clients that you could think of on Wall Street, Goldman, Blackstone, Apollo. So they're often in the conversation of some of the biggest players in the legal industry.
The Journal.
Trump's Attack on Big Law
Their chair, Brad Karp, is a pretty prominent Democratic donor and in the past, especially during Trump's last administration, did assist the ACLU with fighting some of Trump's policies, particularly the policy that separated children and their parents at the border.
The Journal.
Trump's Attack on Big Law
In the order, it cited some pro bono work that Paul Weiss did for the attorney general in Washington, D.C., when they provided some legal help against the January 6th rioters who were accused of storming the Capitol. One, and then mentioning an affiliation with a former partner there, Mark Pomerantz.
The Journal.
Trump's Attack on Big Law
Our reporting indicates that the other big firms did take advantage of some of this, the misfortunes of the other firms. And in fact, this client that we were just talking about, they went to another big firm, but they had to go somewhere. We've had reporting that there was some circling around. The sharks are going to shark. The sharks are circling. What options did Paul Weiss have?
The Journal.
Trump's Attack on Big Law
Paul Weiss had the option to sue to block the executive order. And then what they did was a little different than that. I would say a lot of people wouldn't have imagined the option they took was going to be possible.
The Journal.
Trump's Attack on Big Law
Already over the weekend, all the partners at Paul Weiss were hearing from clients, talking to each other, what are we going to do? They hired a lawyer. They were preparing to sue. They were ready to take it to court to try to get an emergency order, an emergency ruling blocking the order from taking effect.
The Journal.
Trump's Attack on Big Law
The lawyer for Brad Karp, the chair of the firm, had another suggestion, to possibly talk to the president himself, to talk to him about how to get rid of the order.
The Journal.
Trump's Attack on Big Law
It could just make you bleed clients pretty much right away, almost immediately.
The Journal.
Trump's Attack on Big Law
Defuse the bomb. As a reporter on it, I was very surprised that they didn't sue that Monday first thing, because like I said, this could be detrimental to a firm.
The Journal.
Trump's Attack on Big Law
They met in the Oval Office on a Wednesday. They talked for three hours, and by the end of the meeting, a deal had been reached.
The Journal.
Trump's Attack on Big Law
Paul Weiss agreed to several things, the first of which was to give $40 million to certain pro bono legal services that the president approves of. They include veterans, things that are against anti-Semitism, and a few other things. They agreed to some sweeping language about merit-based hiring practices, which I think in Brad Karp's view
The Journal.
Trump's Attack on Big Law
That's actually kind of a normal thing for firms to say. They're not necessarily trying to take clients because of a political, you know, that's the whole point. They're trying to be neutral anyway. So that was the agreement. And then Trump had a message on Truth Social on Thursday evening.
The Journal.
Trump's Attack on Big Law
I think it was pretty shocking because if Paul Wise took this to court, they'd probably win. And I think in the legal community, there's a sense of upholding what they call like the rule of law, just respecting that an executive wouldn't be able to take an action, so sweeping to target a firm like that. And the capitulation of such a major, powerful figure
The Journal.
Trump's Attack on Big Law
maybe rattled people even more in the legal industry. That the president could have such power over the law firm. A lot of people in the legal industry were very upset by what happened.
The Journal.
Trump's Attack on Big Law
Shock and fear, for sure, within those firms. It was a pretty dramatic move that could really destroy these businesses. So law firms have a lot of reason to be afraid for their business if they are targeted with an order.
The Journal.
Trump's Attack on Big Law
Actually, Brad Karp did send a note over this weekend to his partnership explaining that the business was likely to be destroyed if the executive order were to stand. It was happening very fast, that competitors were swooping in. And he also said it was easy to complain from the sidelines when you're not faced with this existential crisis of your business being destroyed by an executive order.
The Journal.
Trump's Attack on Big Law
I think the silence and the chill that you're hearing from them is probably one answer. I should also say, getting a deal is not necessarily doable either. It's not clear if there can be a meeting with every single firm that Paul Weiss got. So I think they also are trying to stay out of the way of Trump in many ways.
The Journal.
Trump's Attack on Big Law
I think that the implications are that if you are a lawyer, your job is to represent clients. Yes, you choose your clients, but there's always been kind of a layer of protection for unpopular clients. You know, people represent people who are accused of murder and things like that.
The Journal.
Trump's Attack on Big Law
Obviously, that's not what we're talking about here, but there's pretty sweeping understanding that the role of a lawyer in the legal system is to have a vigorous defense of their client. So if you go after a law firm for taking on a client, it hits at the root of what this industry is all about. Trump has, I think we're tracking more than 120 lawsuits against his administration currently.
The Journal.
Trump's Attack on Big Law
And so far, the courts have been one pretty significant check on what has happened so far in this administration. And in the past, the legal industry has felt, at least big law, these big firms have felt very insulated from the political fray, from attacks by executive orders, the administration. And so this is a clear shift from that narrative.
The Megyn Kelly Show
GOP Keeps House Seats, Tariff Day Announcement, Feds Seek Death Penalty for Luigi: AM Update 4/2
Every decision made by a judge on behalf of a plaintiff would still go forward. but it would go forward only as to the plaintiff in front of him and not a nation as a whole.
The Megyn Kelly Show
GOP Keeps House Seats, Tariff Day Announcement, Feds Seek Death Penalty for Luigi: AM Update 4/2
The No Rogues Ruling Act does not eliminate the ability of judges to make decisions. In fact... every decision made by a judge on behalf of a plaintiff would still go forward, but it would go forward only as to the plaintiff in front of him and not a nation as a whole determined by one judge, neither elected nor appointed to a position of sufficient power to speak on behalf of the entire nation.