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Brad Karp: Today's explanation of your capitulation to Trump is about money versus justice [1]
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Date: 2025-03-23
Dear Brad Karp:
I spent the past three days feeling so distressed about your capitulation to Mr. Trump, that I almost couldn’t think of anything else. I had hoped that a law firm like yours, known as a “titan in the industry” would have fought back. With your skill-set and those of the members of your firm, and your reputation as some of the toughest litigators in business, it would have been an easy win in court, a huge victory for the rule of law, and you would have been seen as “guardians of justice.”
During Mr. Trump’s first presidency, most law firms with a stellar reputation, prestige, power, and authority, like yours, wouldn’t represent him. But, you actively opposed him, and I can only assume that is because Mr. Trump represents everything you abhor. It was bad enough that he stacked SCOTUS with his conservative justices, but now, with the Project 2025 blueprint, and addition of Elon Musk to do his bidding, Trump is frenetically breaking laws on a daily basis, ignoring the rulings of federal judges, saying he will impeach them, and possibly planning to take legal control of the DOJ—which is one of Project 2025’s goals—in addition to destroying all checks and balances, as he focuses on implementing an imperial presidency.
So, having read an account from the NYT about your recent email from 4:48 ET to the members of your firm, some of whom have been very critical of your capitulation, I’ve got to say that your explanation may work for some of them, but certainly won’t work for the larger legal community, and for those of us who are fighting for our democracy. [I’m sorry I’m not a NYT subscriber and don’t have a link. But, it was written by Michael Schmidt, and Matthew Goldstein]
You wrote: “We initially prepared to challenge the executive order in court (that essentially crippled the firm’s ability to represent clients*) and a team of Paul, Weiss attorneys prepared a lawsuit in the finest traditions of the firm. But it became clear that, even if we were successful in initially enjoining the executive order in litigation, we couldn’t withstand a protracted legal suit with the Trump Administration.”*
“While the firm could stop the order from taking effect, we couldn’t erase it.”
“The firm’s clients were deeply concerned that even if Paul, Weiss won in court, we would still be labeled “persona non grata with the administration. It would potentially prompt clients to move their businesses to rival firms and cause Paul, Weiss to go under.”
“Some members of our firm — particularly litigators — had pushed to fight the order in court, arguing that a judge would quickly block Mr. Trump’s executive order. But members of the corporate practice — who account for a significant part of the firm’s revenue — insisted that I reach a deal to prevent clients from fleeing.”
What if you lost some clients, scaled back, but kept your integrity?
Mr. Karp, I truly wonder if your new email will change many minds. It’s not that different from what you already explained. The problem is that you are a rich and powerful law firm, and you have now set a precedent that will allow Mr. Trump to use law firms as a new revenue stream. He undoubtedly will start suing other firms—who are not nearly as wealthy as yours, and maybe even individual attorneys, and they either will have to pay, or stop practicing law. Surely, it is a tsunami threat to attorneys, and the rule of law. It’s about money versus justice. And last Thursday, money won...again!
*The information is correct in both cases, but I switched it around a tiny bit because it was repetitive in the article.
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