It began with an Executive Action, Paul Weiss blackball order, and a Paul Weiss Fact Sheet targeting Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (Paul Weiss). “On March 14, 2025, the President of the United States issued an Executive Order titled “Addressing Risks from Paul Weiss.” Exec. Order No. __, 90 Fed. Reg. __ (Mar. 14, 2025) (the “March 14 Executive Order”). The March 14 Executive Order provides, among other things, that “[t]he heads of all agencies shall, to the extent permitted by law, provide guidance limiting official access from Federal Government buildings to employees of Paul Weiss when such access would threaten the national security of or otherwise be inconsistent with the interests of the United States. In addition, the heads of all agencies shall provide guidance limiting Government employees acting in their official capacity from engaging with Paul Weiss employees to ensure consistency with the national security and other interests of the United States.”
“In 2021, a Paul Weiss partner and former leading prosecutor in the office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller brought a pro bono suit against individuals alleged to have participated in the events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, on behalf of the District of Columbia Attorney General.In 2022, Paul Weiss hired unethical attorney Mark Pomerantz, who had previously left Paul Weiss to join the Manhattan District Attorney’s office solely to manufacture a prosecution against me and who, according to his co-workers, unethically led witnesses in ways designed to implicate me. After being unable to convince even Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg that a fraud case was feasible, Pomerantz engaged in a media campaign to gin up support for this unwarranted prosecution.”
And yesterday these attacks against Paul Weiss, one of the largest most powerful firms in America, culminated in a giant capitulation to Trump on terms he imposed, and posted, on Truth Social. This is more than disgraceful. It undermines Paul Weiss, its history, mission, vision, values, clients, employees and future work, from this day forward.
See also TechDirt, Mike Masnick – Paul Weiss’s Shameful Surrender Makes Every Lawyer There Complicit In Trumpian Constitutional Desecration. “In what may be one of the most shameful displays of institutional cowardice we’ve seen, law firm Paul Weiss has completely capitulated to Donald Trump’s ridiculously unconstitutional executive order targeting the firm. This cave-in comes mere days after another targeted firm, Perkins Coie, successfully obtained a court order blocking an almost identical order. The contrast could not be more stark: one law firm stood up for basic constitutional principles, while another folded at the first sign of pressure…”
See also – As Powerful Law Firms Roll Over for Trump, One Lawyer Has Had Enough. Rachel Cohen, an associate at Skadden, resigned and demanded Big Law grow a spine.
