Above
the
Law
has
spent
a
lot
of
time
and
digital
ink
decrying
the
cowardly
decision
of
nine
Biglaw
firms
to
bend
a
knee
to
Donald
Trump
and
ink
deals
promising
$940
million
in
pro
bono
payola
for
conservative
causes.
These
deals
have
garnered
a
lot
of
criticism
from around
the
industry. since
the
Executive
Orders
that
were
threatened
were unconstitutional power
grabs
and
many
wondered,
if
a
firm
won’t
stand
up
to
the
bullying
of
the
Trump
administration
for
themselves, how
will
they
do
it
for
clients?
But
it’s
not
so
cut
and
dried.
After
showing
their
belly,
several
of
the
firms
decided
to
use
their
lawyerly
skill
to
work
against
Trump’s
agenda.
We
made
a
big
deal
when
Milbank
cut
their
billing
rates
to
fight
on
behalf
of
so-called
sanctuary
cites.
Plus
they’re
working
against
Trump’s
tariffs
in
court.
And
when
Skadden
took
on
a
pro
bono
client
that
runs
afoul
of
Trump’s
preferred
immigration
goals,
it
was
worthy
of
cheers.
Skadden
and
Milbank
aren’t
alone.
Reuters
reports
Latham
filed
a
lawsuit
against
the
administration
after
it
stopped
construction
on
a
Danish
energy
company’s
Rhode
Island
offshore
wind
farm.
Plus,
Willkie
Farr
is
representing
the
Arlington,
VA
and
Fairfax,
VA
school
districts
over
the
Department
of
Education’s
threatened
funding
freeze
over
their
bathroom
policies.
These
are
certainly
good
developments.
These
are
absolutely
clients
and
causes
worthy
of
the
power
and
might
of
Biglaw.
But
make
no
mistake:
this
doesn’t
count
as
absolution.
The
deals
that
Biglaw
struck
with
Trump
were
the
beginning
of
the
erosion
of
the
rule
of
law.
The
toehold
that
the
far-right
needed
to
push
more
and
more
blatantly
unconstitutional
policies.
And
now
that
everyone
to
the
left
of
Kash
Patel
is
being
investigated
by
the
administration,
fingers
are
absolutely
being
pointed.
Was
it
worth
it?
Well,
Paul
Weiss
sure
seems
to
think
so.
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 or
Mastodon
@[email protected].