First it was Covington & Burling, then Perkins Coie, Paul Weiss, Jenner & Block, and WilmerHale. These are the Biglaw firms that have seen Executive Orders aimed at them for the grievous insult of having their attorneys take cases that Donald Trump or his allies just don’t like. And given the success Trump has had getting some firms (Paul Weiss and Skadden, who didn’t even face an EO) to do his bidding, he isn’t likely done targeting Biglaw.
And the folks at Willkie Farr think they know who is next. Them.
As reported by the American Lawyer:
Sources close to the firm say Willkie believes it is one of the next likely targets of the Trump administration’s executive order blitz on Big Law. A firm representative did not reply to multiple requests for comment regarding the matter.
The New York firm has “started to make preparations” and take necessary steps, said one of the sources, declining to elaborate on those steps.
And the why of it makes a kind of sense too — the former Second Gentleman, Doug Emhoff, is a partner at the firm. And two former investigators for the congressional committee on the January 6th attack, Tim Heaphy and Soumya Dayanada, are also partners at the firm. Plus, Willkie represented the Georgia poll workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, who took down Rudy Giuliani. That’s the exact kind of thing a president bent on retaliation would target on his revenge tour.
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].
