President Donald Trump announced on Friday that the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP preemptively cut a deal with the administration to ward off the potential threat of an executive order targeting the firm.
The deal requires the firm to provide $100 million in pro bono services to the Trump administration, Trump said during a White House appearance. A spokesperson for Skadden did not immediately respond to a request for comment or confirmation on the deal.
Skadden joins the New York powerhouse firm Paul Weiss in choosing to surrender to the Trump administration amid threats to their ability to access government contracts and maintain clients with such contracts. Unlike the situation with Paul Weiss, Trump did not even need to issue an executive order to get the firm to bend the knee.
Three other firms targeted by Trump — Perkins Coie, WilmerHale and Jenner & Block — have filed lawsuits challenging the orders targeting them. A federal district court judge already placed a temporary restraining order blocking Trump’s actions against Perkins Coie, saying that it “sent little chills down my spine.”
It isn’t clear why Skadden chose to seek out a deal with Trump, which The New York Times reported about on Thursday. There was no public indication that the firm would be targeted by an executive order. Billionaire White House adviser Elon Musk had singled out the firm on social media on Sunday for previously working on a case against conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza. But that’s it.
The firm’s decision to voluntarily submit to Trump comes amid rising attacks from his administration on the legal profession. He has targeted five law firms with executive orders seeking to cripple their businesses, retracted security clearances from other lawyers, and issued an executive order that purports to allow the Department of Justice to disqualify individual lawyers or firms from cases challenging the administration.
This new deal also seems to up the stakes for other firms facing Trump’s threats. Paul Weiss agreed to provide $40 million in pro bono services when it surrendered. Now, Skadden has promised $100 million in services. The tribute price has gone up 150%.
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The other firms that have chosen to fight back have not minced words in their legal filings about the illegality of the executive orders.
The order targeting Jenner & Block “is an unconstitutional abuse of power against lawyers, their clients, and the legal system,” according to the lawsuit filed by the firm.
“The Order is an affront to the Constitution and our adversarial system of justice,” the lawsuit filed by Perkins Coie states. “Its plain purpose is to bully those who advocate points of view that the President perceives as adverse to the views of his Administration, whether those views are presented on behalf of paying or pro bono clients.”
