Things are getting real terrifying in Biglaw. The might and weight of the executive branch is coming down hard on the industry — Covington and Perkins Coie are in the midst of their own existential battle with the Trump administration and Paul Weiss had to embarrass itself to get in the good graces of Donald Trump. But the fight is far from over. Trump recently signed another Executive Order, Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court, which threatens attorneys who oppose the federal government in court with Rule 11 sanctions.
The Department of Justice has already begun that dirty work, with a spokesperson saying the agency has started “an immediate review of law firms who have participated in inappropriate activity and weaponized lawfare.” Though the Rule 11 threshold for sanctions is pretty high, the threshold for being targeted by the administration with likely unconstitutional but harmful measures is disturbingly low.
But as chilling as targeting firms that oppose the administration is, the circle of potential targets is even wider. Over the weekend, shadow president Elon Musk issued a stark warning to Skadden Arps.
The “2000 Mules” that Dinesh D’Souza is referring to is his film and book that contains widely debunked conspiracy theories about the 2020 election that spurred litigation.
Don’t expect heroics from Skadden. The firm was recently in the news when an associate at the firm rallied associates around the country to sign an open letter demanding a response from Biglaw to the attack on the rule of law and received crickets in response. And when the administration upped their attacks on Biglaw that associate, Rachel Cohen, publicly quit Skadden over the firm’s failure to address and admonish Trump’s retaliation against the legal system.
This tweet shows that the right is trying to eliminate any legal response to their plans. They *want* to bankrupt law firms and impeach judges that refuse to go along with far-right policy goals. The entire system of law and order is on the line and the list of people willing to stand up and defend it is shrinking.
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].
