Washington — President Trump announced Friday that the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom agreed to provide more than $100 million in pro bono work for initiatives backed by his administration.
The agreement makes Skadden Arps the second major firm to reach a deal with Mr. Trump amid a recent blitz of executive orders targeting law firms that have employed his purported political opponents. The orders issued by the president have focused on the firms Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, known as WilmerHale.
All three of those firms have filed federal lawsuits challenging the executive orders as a violation of the First Amendment. A federal judge in Washington blocked parts of Mr. Trump’s executive order against Perkins Coie earlier this month, and on Friday, two separate judges issued temporary restraining orders halting the president’s actions against Jenner & Block and WilmerHale.
While Mr. Trump earlier in the month issued an order going after a fourth firm, Paul, Weiss, it was rescinded after the international firm agreed to provide $40 million in free legal services to support causes backed by the administration.
The president said in a statement posted to Truth Social that in addition to providing $100 million in pro bono work, the firm will not engage in “illegal DEI discrimination and preferences” and work with an outside counsel to advise it on employment practices.
Mr. Trump also said Skadden Arps “will not deny representation to clients, such as members of politically disenfranchised groups, who have not historically received legal representation from major National Law Firms, including in pro bono matters, and in support of non-profits, because of the personal political views of individual lawyers.”
The White House said Skadden Arps approached the administration “and declared the Firm’s strong commitment to ending the Weaponization of the Justice System and the Legal Profession.”
Jeremy London, the firm’s executive partner, said in a statement distributed by Mr. Trump that it is “pleased to have achieved a successful agreement with President Trump and his Administration. We engaged proactively with the President and his team in working together constructively to reach this agreement. The Firm looks forward to continuing our productive relationship with President Trump and his Administration. We firmly believe that this outcome is in the best interests of our clients, our people, and our Firm.”
The executive orders targeting the law firms are among a number of actions taken by Mr. Trump since he returned to the White House that have gone after his perceived enemies. He revoked the security clearances of former Vice President Kamala Harris, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other top Biden administration officials, as well as others who have been critical of him, last week. Mr. Trump also pulled the security details for Dr. Anthony Fauci and retired Gen. Mark Milley, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Trump and Biden administrations.
Executive orders targeting major law firms
The law firm-related orders take issue with the work they have performed and the lawyers previously on their payrolls. In the directive targeting Perkins Coie, Mr. Trump attacked the firm for representing Clinton during her 2016 presidential campaign and hiring a research firm that retained a former British spy, Christopher Steele, who produced the infamous “Steele Dossier.”
The president’s order attacking Jenner & Block singles out the firm for hiring Andrew Weissmann, who worked with former special counsel Robert Mueller on his investigation into Russia’s efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election. Weissmann left the firm in 2021. It also took issue with Jenner & Block’s work on a challenge to Mr. Trump’s executive order that seeks to strip federal funds from medical institutions that provide gender-affirming care to minors, among other lawsuits.
In a ruling late Friday, Judge John D. Bates, an appointee of President George W. Bush, issued an order temporarily blocking the action, saying it likely violates the First, Fifth and Sixth Amendments. The judge called Mr. Trump’s executive order “disturbing” and “troubling” on the grounds that it attacks pro bono practice.
“The court does not take lightly the power to enjoin the executive branch, but the government has not made any persuasive case that the public interest will be harmed” by halting enforcement, he said.
Mr. Trump’s latest executive order, which targets WilmerHale, accused the firm of weaponizing the justice system by employing Mueller and two others who worked on his investigation, James Quarles and Aaron Zebley. Mueller left WilmerHale more than three years ago, according to the firm, and Quarles is retired. Zebley is a partner at WilmerHale.
In his ruling Friday night temporarily blocking portions of Mr. Trump’s executive order, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon wrote: “There is no doubt this retaliatory action chills speech and legal advocacy, or that it qualifies as a constitutional harm.”
Leon said WilmerHale “faces more than economic harm” from the executive order, “it faces crippling losses and its very survival is at stake.” He wrote that the injuries to the firm from the order “would be so severe and would spill over to its clients and the justice system at large. The public interest demands protecting against harms of this magnitude.”
His temporary restraining order stops the Trump administration from requiring government contracting agencies to terminate all contracts with WilmerHale, and stops the administration from restricting WilmerHale employees’ access to federal buildings and officials.
The executive orders directed agency heads to suspend any active security clearances held by employees of three firms and require federal contractors to disclose any business with WilmerHale, Jenner & Block and Perkins Coie. The administration is also directed to review all contracts with the firms or with entities that disclose doing business with them.
The fallout from the executive orders has been swift. In a declaration filed with the court, Thomas Perrelli, firm chair and a partner at Jenner & Block, warned that if allowed to take the effect, the restrictions laid out in Mr. Trump’s order would be “devastating and irreparable.”
According to Perrelli, one client has already informed Jenner & Block that the Justice Department notified them that they cannot bring their lawyers from the firm to a department meeting set for April 3. That client, Perrelli wrote, will need to attend the meeting without their outside representation or hire new counsel before it.
Some Jenner & Block clients are also worried the firm cannot represent them in federal court or go into government buildings to engage with regulatory agencies or government officials, he said. Within 24 hours of Mr. Trump’s order, Perrelli said several clients expressed concerns about the firm’s representation because they were unsure whether Jenner & Block lawyers could enter federal buildings and courthouses, negotiate with government officials or participate in meetings with the Justice Department.
As to the order’s provisions targeting government contractors with a relationship with Jenner & Block, Perrelli said 40% of the firm’s revenue came from clients who have federal contracts or subcontracts.
“If we lost that business, or even a portion of it, it would be a serious threat to the firm’s financial health,” Perrelli wrote.
Emily Hung
contributed to this report.
