Well,
well,
well.
When
Biglaw
firms
started
swearing
fealty
to
the
Trump
administration,
the
justifications
their
defenders
offered
fell
into
two
major
buckets.
First,
that
the
millions
of
dollars
in
pro
bono
payola
they
put
on
the
table
would
be
feel
good
charity
work
for
the
benefit
of,
to
quote
them
at
the
time,
“a
wide
range
of
underserved
populations.”
Those
of
us
who
were
not
born
yesterday
recognized
this
as
very
stupid,
and
were
quickly
rewarded
for
our
basic
common
sense.
We
now
know
the
administration
sees
the
pro
bono
obligation
as
more
of
a
“representing
cops
in
excessive
force
cases
when
they
kill
unarmed
Black
kids”
thing.
Potato,
po-tah-to.
The
other
excuse
was
that
a
firm
finding
itself
cross-wise
with
the
administration
would
get
roasted
alive
as
clients
bolt
for
competitors
who
aren’t
facing
government
retaliation.
We
predicted
the
opposite
at
the
time,
expecting
many
clients
to
reject
firms
showing
their
belly
to
Trump.
If
a
firm
is
willing
to
throw
itself
under
the
bus
at
the
first
sign
of
illegal
government
pressure,
how
can
they
be
trusted
to
stand
up
for
a
client?
What
level
of
comfort
can
you
have
with
firms
hemorrhaging
talent?
Maybe
more
fundamentally,
as
Trump
careens
into
historic
unfavorables,
what
business
wants
the
negative
stigma
of
affiliation
with
these
firms?
Simpson
Thacher
joined
the
ranks
of
surrendering
firms
a
couple
weeks
ago.
Now
it
enters
the
“find
out”
phase
that
follows
fucking
around
like
night
follows
day.
From
Noam
Scheiber
over
at
the
NY
Times:
On
April
22,
several
attorneys
at
the
law
firm
Simpson
Thacher
&
Bartlett
informed
the
Delaware
Court
of
Chancery
that
they
would
no
longer
be
representing
Microsoft
in
a
case
related
to
the
company’s
2023
acquisition
of
the
video
game
giant
Activision
Blizzard,
according
to
court
filings.Simpson
Thacher
reached
a
deal
with
the
White
House
last
month
in
which
the
firm
committed
to
perform
$125
million
in
free
legal
work
for
causes
acceptable
to
the
Trump
administration.
In
a
joint
statement
with
other
firms
making
similar
agreements,
Simpson
Thacher
said
the
pro
bono
work
would
be
on
behalf
of
“a
wide
range
of
underserved
populations.”On
the
same
day
that
the
Simpson
Thacher
lawyers
filed
paperwork
withdrawing
from
the
Microsoft
case,
at
least
three
partners
at
the
firm
Jenner
&
Block
informed
the
court
that
they
would
be
representing
Microsoft
in
the
case.
Jenner
is
fighting
in
court
to
permanently
block
a
Trump
administration
executive
order
targeting
its
business.
One
of
the
most
powerful
companies
in
America
just
dumped
a
key
case
out
of
the
hands
of
Simpson
—
a
firm
touting
a
$125
million
pro
bono
deal
with
the
administration
—
and
handed
it
over
to
Jenner
&
Block
—
a
firm
actively
suing
and
routinely
defeating
the
administration.
That
seems…
significant.
Officially,
nobody’s
talking.
Microsoft
declined
to
comment,
Simpson
ghosted
reporters,
and
Jenner
is
wisely
staying
classy.
Indeed,
if
anyone
involved
were
willing
to
talk,
they
would
surely
describe
this
as
a
routine
decision.
But
in
this
moment,
with
this
switch,
from
that
firm
to
that
firm?
Please.
If
you
believe
this
is
just
business
as
usual,
I’ve
got
a
$125
million
“pro
bono”
pledge
to
sell
you.
Microsoft
is
a
sophisticated
entity
and
it
fully
understood
the
ramifications
of
switching
from
Simpson
to
Jenner.
Even
if
they
came
out
tomorrow
and
said
they
only
made
the
switch
because
Jenner
offered
them
a
“bill
9
hours,
get
the
10th
free”
deal
or
something,
Microsoft
would
realize
that
everyone
would
clock
a
docket
entry
like
this.
If
they
didn’t
want
this
signal
out
there,
they
could’ve
added
another
firm
to
the
team
without
actually
firing
Simpson.
Or
if
they
were
going
to
replace
Simpson,
they
could’ve
chosen
another
collaborator
or
one
of
the
many,
many,
many
firms
staying
alarmingly
silent
about
Trump’s
attacks
on
the
profession.
Instead,
they
made
the
Simpson-Jenner
issue
a
zero-sum
equation
for
everyone
to
see.
This
is
a
huge
public
domino
to
fall,
but
it’s
unlikely
the
last.
The
bet
Simpson
and
others
made
that
playing
nice
with
Trump
would
keep
clients
from
fleeing
always
looked
dubious,
but
now
we
have
some
data.
Turns
out,
some
clients
don’t
want
a
firm
that
makes
deals
with
authoritarians.
They
want
a
firm
that’ll
fight
them.
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
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if
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Joe
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