The Trump administration is openly targeting Biglaw firms for their representation of clients and causes adverse to the president’s political agenda. Three top firms — Covington & Burling, Perkins Coie, and Paul Weiss — have found themselves on the receiving end of Trump’s retaliatory (and likely unconstitutional) executive orders, which strip attorneys of their security clearances, terminate the firms’ government contracts, and limit attorneys’ access to government buildings.
To date, Biglaw leadership has remained silent on these issues, likely for fear that their firms could be next, but associates are growing incredibly concerned — and hundreds of them have had enough.
Biglaw associates from Am Law 200 firms across the country are now demanding a response from law firm leaders in an open letter that’s been anonymously signed by more than 300 attorneys (and counting). Although their names have been omitted from their signatures, these associates have included their firm names and class years. Thus far, these associates hail from firms like Akin, Cleary Gottlieb, Davis Polk, Debevoise, Goodwin, Hogan Lovells, Kirkland & Ellis, Latham, Morgan Lewis, Quinn Emanuel, Skadden, Sullivan & Cromwell, and more. Here’s an excerpt from that letter:
“We call on our employers, large American law firms, to defend their colleagues and the legal profession by condemning this rapid purge of ‘partisan actors,’ a group that seems to be synonymous with those the president feels have wronged him,” the letter states. “Our politics and feelings about the industry and its path forward are varied. But we are united in our condemnation of the administration’s intimidation tacts, viewpoint discrimination, and attempts to weaponize the executive [branch] against the rule of law.”
“Our hope was that our employers, some of the most profitable law firms in the world, would lead the way,” the letter says. “That has not yet been the case, but it still very much can be. It is easy to be afraid of being the first to speak. We are removing that barrier; we are speaking. Now it is our employers’ turn.”
Rachel Cohen, a third-year finance associate at Skadden, worked to put the letter together. Here’s what she had to say in an interview with the American Lawyer, noting that she was not speaking on the firm’s behalf:
“If the firms are hoping to ignore this because partnerships are concerned about repercussions,” Cohen said, “there was utility in flagging to the partnerships — that’s not where the associates are and we’re very concerned about this.”
“If we’re not leveraging this position to say that this is unacceptable like the ABA did, like midsized [firm] lawyers and other public interest attorneys have done, that’s not just a huge missed opportunity but a pretty big threat for the way the American legal system is supposed to function,” she added.
On her LinkedIn page, Cohen is even more explicit, writing, “Trump is taking an enormous gamble by targeting some of the most powerful lawyers in the country first. With effective coordination, we could easily resist him. But as yet, his gamble is paying off. I will not watch the legal system collapse from my window office 4000 feet off the ground and stay silent out of fear.”
It’s time for Biglaw leaders to publicly speak out about the way the Trump is misusing the justice system in order to seek retribution against those he deems to be his enemies. Congratulations to these brave associates for stating their case on the record — hopefully those who lead their firms will heed their calls to defend of the rule of law in America.
Click here if you’re interested in signing the open letter.
Open Letter From Big Law Associates Calls for Law Firms ‘To Defend Their Colleagues’ [American Lawyer]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.
