In a twist straight out of a legal drama, Donald Trump has scrapped an executive order aimed at powerhouse law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison — and the reason isn’t subtle: the firm pledged $40 million in free legal work and, according to the White House, bent the knee.
The reversal followed a private meeting between Trump and Paul Weiss chairman Brad Karp. What unfolded, per administration sources, was an unusual détente. Karp allegedly acknowledged “wrongdoing” by former partner Mark Pomerantz, who once probed Trump’s hush money payments during his stint at the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. Trump, ever the showman, declared the firm now stands on the right side of “fair and nonpartisan” justice.
Pomerantz, for his part, didn’t blink. He issued a statement flatly denying any misconduct and defending his work as a prosecutor.
The now-rescinded executive order had cut off Paul Weiss lawyers from sensitive government spaces and cited the firm’s commitment to diversity as a threat to impartial governance. But that hardline stance softened when the firm promised to throw its weight behind Trump’s priorities — including veterans’ issues and fighting antisemitism — all pro bono. It also vowed to audit and cleanse its internal policies of any diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) frameworks.
That concession aligned neatly with Trump’s broader crusade against DEI initiatives. Earlier in the week, the administration had sent notices to 20 major law firms demanding detailed DEI data, sparking tremors across the legal landscape.
The Paul Weiss climbdown stood in stark contrast to the response from another legal titan, Perkins Coie, which responded to a similar executive order by suing the administration. A federal judge offered Perkins Coie some protection, temporarily blocking portions of the order while hinting that the firm’s constitutional claims might hold water.
Meanwhile, Paul Weiss was already feeling the pressure. In a New Jersey courtroom just one day before the order was dropped, the firm admitted it had been dropped by a client in a bribery case due to the Trump crackdown. Perkins Coie claimed in its lawsuit that it had lost seven clients over the same issue.
Brad Karp’s firm — known for brokering megadeals for financial titans like Blackstone and Goldman Sachs, and fighting courtroom battles for tech behemoths like Google and Amazon — suddenly found itself in unfamiliar territory: political crossfire.
And while Karp has raised campaign funds for Kamala Harris and boasts former Obama-era Attorney General Loretta Lynch as a partner, that didn’t stop him from making the pilgrimage to the White House to make things right.
“There was no playbook for this,” noted University of Connecticut law professor Leslie Levin, reflecting on the legal world’s unease.
No playbook indeed. Just a high-stakes game, and one firm’s costly gambit to stay in it.
