"I'm referring to the Capitulating Nine - Paul Weiss, Skadden, Latham & Watkins, Kirkland & Ellis, Milbank, Simpson Thacher, Willkie, A&O Shearman, and Cadwalader - law firms that pledged nearly $1 billion in "pro bono" work for Trump-approved causes to escape his wrath. They're not talking about what kind of free services they're offering Trump or how their client base has changed - and certainly not a word about morale at their firms."
"the really smart ones (he cited Kirkland & Ellis and Simpson Thacher as clients) hired him to smooth the path: If you are in the business in Washington, DC, of working for clients that have issues before the government, it's better to be someone who can work with the government than someone who just says screw you. I think it's pretty smart for those guys to have done what they've done - the guys we represented and others."
Nine major law firms pledged roughly $940 million to provide pro bono legal services aligned with Trump-approved causes to avoid political fallout. The firms have remained largely silent about the scope of services, client shifts, and internal morale. Republican lobbyist Brian Ballard publicly defended the arrangements in a Bloomberg Law interview and promoted his role in brokering deals for firms such as Kirkland & Ellis and Simpson Thacher. Ballard argued that working constructively with government is strategically smarter than confrontation. Observers criticized the media for offering insufficiently critical coverage of Ballard's self-promotion.
Read at Above the Law
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