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Biglaw Firm Chooses Associate Over Elon Musk – Above the Law

Elon
Musk
(Photo
by
Diego
Donamaria/Getty
Images
for
SXSW)

Elon
Musk
is
a
very
rich
man
with
a
very
big
platform.
And
he
frequently
uses
both
of
those
things
to
aggressively
demand
that
folks
do
exactly
what
he
wants
them
to
do.

Like
remember
back
in
season
1
of
the
pandemic
when
he
was
salty
that
Alameda
County
shut
down
the
Tesla
plant
located
there
to
stop
the
spread
of
COVID.
He
kept
the
plant
open
in
defiance
of
local
rules,
sued
the
county
and
eventually

in
a
move
that
I
am
sure
is
COMPLETELY
COINCIDENTAL

the
county
allowed
the
plant
to
remain
open.
Or
when
Dr.
Mary
“Missy”
Cummings
was
appointed
as
an
advisor
to
the
National
Highway
Traffic
Safety
Administration.
Dr.
Cummings
authored
a
study
that
found
Tesla’s
autopilot
operated
inconsistently.
When
her
appointment
became
public,
Musk
set
off
an
onslaught
on
social
media
vitriol
aimed
at
Dr.
Cummings.
She’s
since
recused
herself
from
an
investigations
involving
Tesla.

Anyway,
the
point
is
when
Musk
complains
about
something
loudly
enough,
it
tends
to
go
his
way.
But
it
seems
like
he
misunderstood
the
resolve
of
a
Biglaw
firm.

The
Wall
Street
Journal

reports

that
Cooley
LLP
got
an
“ultimatum”
from
Musk.
The
firm
represents
Tesla
in
a
number
of
matters,
and
Musk
felt
that
entitled
him
to
demand
they
fire
an
attorney
that
never
worked
on
any
matters
on
behalf
of
Tesla.
That’s
because
the
firm
hired
an
associate
with
previous
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission
experience,
and
while
at
the
SEC
the
attorney
interviewed
Musk
as
part
of
an
investigation:

At
the
SEC,
the
attorney
had
interviewed
Mr.
Musk
during the
agency’s
investigation of
the
Tesla
chief
executive’s
2018
tweet
claiming,
wrongly,
to
have
secured
funding
to
potentially
take
the
electric-vehicle
maker
private.

The
probe
resulted
in
a
settlement
in
which
Mr.
Musk agreed
to
resign
as
chairman and
pay
a
$20
million
fine.
He
also
agreed
to
have
a
Tesla
lawyer
review
in
advance
tweets
about
certain
topics,
including
the
company’s
financial
results,
sales
numbers
and
proposed
business
combinations.

When
Cooley
refused
to
bow
to
this
demand,
Musk
reportedly
retaliated
by
pulling
work
from
the
firm:

Cooley
has
declined
to
fire
the
attorney,
who
remains
an
associate
at
the
firm,
the
people
said.
Since
early
December,
Tesla
has
begun
taking
steps
in
several
cases
to
replace
Cooley
or
add
additional
counsel,
legal
documents
show.
Mr.
Musk’s
rocket
company
Space
Exploration
Technologies
Corp.,
also
known
as
SpaceX,
has
stopped
using
Cooley
for
regulatory
work,
according
to
people
familiar
with
the
matter.

Good
for
Cooley
for
not
allowing
Musk
to
dictate
their
hiring.
Listen,
Biglaw
firms
get
a
lot
of
(deserved)
flack
from
people
(me,
I’m
people)
for
their
problematic
cultures.
And
when
an
attorney’s
value
to
a
firm
is
measured
in
six-minute
increments,
it’s
easy
to
see
how
that
can
turn
south.
But
in
standing
up
against
a
high-profile
client,
Cooley
put
their
money

where
their
mouth

is.
In
a

hot
lateral
market
,
details
like
this
about
a
firm
that
can
really
make
a
difference.




Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of

The
Jabot
podcast
,
and
co-host
of

Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer
.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email

her
 with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
follow
her
on
Twitter
(@Kathryn1).