President Donald Trump rescinded Friday an executive order aimed at crippling law firm Paul Weiss’s ability to function, after the firm’s leaders agreed to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, submit to an audit of employment practices, and provide free legal services for Trump causes.
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton, and Garrison LLP (Paul Weiss) is one of the largest multinational firms in the US whose practice dates back to 1875. The firm’s clients have included major corporations like ExxonMobile, Lucasfilm, and Citigroup, and the firm deals in numerous areas of law spanning nearly every area of litigation and transactional law.
The executive order that initially targeted Paul Weiss restricted government contractors from doing business with the firm, attacked the firm’s DEI programs, suspended security clearances that allowed the firm to handle sensitive government information for their clients, and finally, included a broad provision that limited access to government buildings for employees of the firm.
The last provision would have put in question whether the firm would be able to access federal courthouses to handle legal matters for clients and would have essentially grounded operations at Paul Weiss to a halt.
In the executive order, Trump cited the “undermining [of] the judicial process and…the destruction of bedrock American principles” as reasons for the actions targeting Paul Weiss. The order also took issue with former Paul Weiss attorneys who were involved in legal actions against Trump and participants in the Jan. 6 Capital riots.
Trump’s newest executive order rescinding the actions against the firm referenced negotiations that the firms chairman Brad Karp undertook with the administration to relieve themselves from the onerous order.
Earlier this week…Paul Weiss indicated that it that it will engage in a remarkable change of course…it has agreed to a number of policy changes to promote equality, justice, and the principles that keep our Nation strong, including: adopting a policy of political neutrality with respect to client selection and attorney hiring; taking on a wide range of pro bono matters representing the full political spectrum; committing to merit-based hiring, promotion, and retention, instead of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” policies; dedicating the equivalent of $40 million in pro bono legal services during my term in office to support causes including assisting our Nation’s veterans, fairness in the justice system, and combating anti-Semitism; and other similar initiatives.
The order also indicated that the firm had rebuked former attorneys who had been involved in litigation against Trump and his supporters.
The announcement of the agreement was met with uproar in the legal community from individuals who were shocked by the acquiescence to Trump policies from one of the biggest firms in the nation with a storied history of activism. A group of bar societies and law associations had previously condemned the administrations attack on law firms including another executive order targeting law firm Perkins Coie LLP.
Trump has taken action against several firms in what some would describe as retaliation for their involvement in the myriad legal cases swirling around the president over the last decade. These actions have raised severe rule of law concerns.
Unlike the actions taken by Paul Weiss leadership here, Perkins Coie sued the Trump administration arguing that a similar order was unconstitutional. A federal judge agreed blocking the order just earlier this week.
As of this date, the Paul Weiss website still retains several articles touting diversity and inclusion in their workplace notably including a video titled “A Culture of Inclusion: Paul Weiss’s Enduring Values.”
