After
the
Notorious
Nine
Biglaw
firms
traded
their
principles
to
curry
favor
with
the
Trump
administration,
the
question
on
everyone’s
mind
remained:
what,
exactly,
were
they
going
to
do
for
the
administration?
The
firms
offered
free
legal
services
—
in
amounts
upward
of
$125
million
each
—
to
vaguely
defined
conservative-friendly
causes.
Publicly,
the
firms
downplayed
the
agreements,
telling
legislators
that
they
would
retain
ultimate
authority
over
their
pro
bono
representations
and,
often,
pointing
to
specific,
benign
causes
like
“veterans’
charities”
as
examples
of
the
work
expected.
Meanwhile,
the
administration
itself
indicated
that
they
felt
the
work
would
cover
everything
from
defending
police
brutality
cases
to
personal
legal
services
for
Trump
to
call
upon
after
leaving
office.
What
were
these
firms
supposed
to
be
doing
to
fulfill
their
pro
bono
payola
obligations?
We
might
have
a
bit
more
insight
into
this
matter,
following
an
email
sent
around
to
Kirkland
attorneys
seeking
volunteers
to
help
out
with
a
new
engagement
for
the
conservative
think
tank
The
Goldwater
Institute.
Presumably,
if
the
$125
million
bill
ever
comes
due,
this
is
the
sort
of
work
the
firm
will
point
to.
The
right-leaning
think
tank
takes
its
name
from
Barry
“Landslide”
Goldwater,
the
1964
Republican
presidential
candidate
campaign
so
spectacularly
stomped
by
LBJ
because
the
majority
of
the
country
thought
the
odds
were
better
than
even
that
he’d
launch
a
nuclear
war
just
for
kicks.
While
his
defeat
laid
the
groundwork
for
the
conservative
movement’s
later
successes,
Goldwater
remained
something
of
an
unvarnished
libertarian.
He’s
the
sort
of
guy
who
would
look
at
the
Trump
administration
and
declare
“on
second
thought,
maybe
extremism
is
a
vice.”
The
Goldwater
Institute
shares
the
libertarian
tilt,
and
many
of
its
efforts
on
the
part
of
individuals
fighting
stupid
regulations
are
laudable,
like
when
the
organization
fought
for
lawyers
seeking
licenses
held
up
over
stupid
rules
about
foreign
law
degrees.
They
also
launch
stupid
attacks
on
“DEI”
and
campaign
finance
laws.
Libertarians,
like
clocks,
are
right
a
couple
times
a
day
and
we
just
have
to
celebrate
when
that
moment
rolls
around.
The
specific
project
Kirkland
has
taken
on
falls
within
the
Institute’s
more
even-keeled
work.
The
message
from
the
firm’s
Pro
Bono
Coordinator
explains
that
the
firm
is
working
for
the
Goldwater
Institute
to
produce
a
50-state
survey
of
civil
jury
trial
protections.
The
organization
has
a
history
of
fighting
to
protect
the
individual’s
right
to
a
trial
by
jury.
In
practice,
this
amounts
to
pushing
back
against
the
administrative
adjudications
some
states
employ
to
resolve
public
rights
questions
quickly
without
clogging
up
courts
with
inefficient
litigation.
Instead,
civil
jury
trial
purists
would
say,
we
should
bog
down
the
system
with
constant
Bleak
House
property
litigation…
for
freedom!
It’s
bad
policy,
but
in
the
grand
scheme
of
causes
that
a
firm
could
lend
its
services
to
help,
it’s
not
awful.
And
it’s
far
superior
to
Kirkland’s
free
work
as
Junior
Deputies
for
the
Commerce
Department.
That
project
involved
giving
the
administration
direct
services,
a
spiritual
violation
of
the
vague
commitments
to
charitable
work
and
arguably
a
very
real
violation
of
31
U.S.
Code
§
1342,
the
federal
law
that
bars
agencies
from
accepting
unpaid
services
unless
someone
is
literally
on
fire.
The
statute
prevents
the
government
from
accepting
free
services
unless
conditions
“imminently
threaten
the
safety
of
human
life
or
the
protection
of
property,”
and
papering
up
a
trade
deal
doesn’t
come
close.
But
the
test
of
these
agreements
still
hasn’t
arrived.
Volunteering
for
a
conservative
think
tank
or
representing
the
government
will
earn
these
firms
enough
goodwill
to
impress
whichever
Stephen
Miller
intern
is
charged
with
monitoring
Biglaw
compliance,
but
it’s
not
going
to
hit
that
$125
million
figure.
The
moment
of
truth
for
all
these
deals
arrives
when
the
administration
comes
to
the
firm
with
a
specific
request
and
the
firm
has
to
decide
whether
or
not
it
plays
ball.
Maybe
that
day
won’t
come,
but
if
it
does,
it’s
hard
to
believe
the
White
House
is
going
to
be
satisfied
with
“we’d
rather
not
do
that,
please
accept
this
survey
of
state
civil
jury
laws
instead.”
Earlier: Biglaw
Firms
Surrendering
To
Trump
Furiously
Backpedaling:
‘LOL,
What
Pro
Bono
Deals?’
Paul
Weiss
&
Kirkland
Doing
Free
Trump
Commerce
Department
Work
As
Part
Of
‘Please
Don’t
Hurt
Us,
Daddy’
Deals
Trump’s
Biglaw
Bootlickers
Say
Quiet
Part
Out
Loud
In
Letters
To
Congress
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
Bluesky
if
you’re
interested
in
law,
politics,
and
a
healthy
dose
of
college
sports
news.
Joe
also
serves
as
a
Managing
Director
at
RPN
Executive
Search.