U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he had struck a deal with one of the nation’s top law firms that will include pro bono support to the federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism.
Writing on his Truth Social platform, the president said he was lifting an executive order stripping Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison of contracts and its security clearances in exchange for concessions from the firm.
“Paul Weiss will dedicate the equivalent of $40 million in pro bono legal services over the course of President Trump’s term to support the administration’s initiatives, including: assisting our nation’s veterans, fairness in the justice system, the president’s Task Force to Combat Antisemitism and other mutually agreed projects,” Trump wrote.
The white-shoe partnership also agreed to take on pro bono work that will “represent the full spectrum of political viewpoints of our society, whether ‘conservative’ or ‘liberal,’” and to audit its hiring practices to ensure that they are based on merit and not so-called diversity, equity and inclusion principles, per the president’s message.
On March 14, Trump signed an executive order suspending the firm’s security clearances and instructing agency heads to begin terminating contracts with the firm.
The order cited the work of a current and a former Paul Weiss partner for their roles in suing participants in the Jan. 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol and for participating in the New York prosecution of Trump for falsifying business records, respectively, as reason for deeming the firm a risk.
According to Trump’s statement, the firm’s chairman, Brad Karp, said he was “gratified” and that the order had been withdrawn and that Paul Weiss looked forward to “an engaged and constructive relationship with the president and his administration.”
It’s not clear what portion of the $40 million in pro bono services will be devoted to supporting the multi-departmental Task Force to Combat Antisemitism. (JNS sought comment from Paul Weiss.)
In February, Paul Weiss teamed up with the Anti-Defamation League to sue a group of neo-Nazis on behalf of the city of Springfield, Ohio.
