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In his effort to silence his critics, Donald Trump is trying to take down all the major law firms, hoping that will mean that people like Jack Smith, Joe Biden, Liz Cheney, and other high-profile targets will have nowhere to go when he asks AG Pam Bondi to indict them for the crime of annoying him. So far, the reaction of the targeted law firms has been mixed. Covington & Burling, which has Jack Smith as a (pro bono) client, just accepted its punishment like a beaten dog. The second firm, Perkins & Coie, fought back by hiring another top law firm, Williams & Connolly, to sue the government. It even won the initial battle. The third firm, Paul, Weiss, capitulated totally, despite its reputation for being an exceptionally aggressive firm.
Next up is Jenner & Block, a top Chicago law firm who is in Trump's crosshairs because it previously employed Andrew Weissman, who worked on Robert Mueller's team that investigated the Russian interference in the 2016 election. Whatever else you might say about Trump, he has an excellent memory for people and events in the distant past that enraged him. In an XO signed Tuesday, Trump has ordered the government to revoke the security clearances of people who work there, terminate any government contracts they have, and ban the government from ever hiring anyone who once worked there. Just in case anyone misses the point, Weissman is specifically mentioned in the XO.
So far, Jenner hasn't decided if it is going to go for fight (like Perkins) or flight (like Paul). The big law firms don't seem to realize that each of them could be next if they ever employed anyone who either before, during, or after his or her employment offended Trump. And he has a wide range of things that offend him and a good memory for who the offenders were. What the firms obviously need to do is band together to work as an old-fashioned guild to defend the law and lawyers and make it impossible to pick them off one at a time. The problem is that the firms are somewhat in competition with one another and working together is difficult for them. There could possibly be some anti-trust issues here, although they would be working together to provide a collective defense, not fix prices. Also, some of the less scrupulous firms may see this as an opportunity to poach lawyers from firms under attack. What they don't seem to understand is that if the law doesn't matter anymore, there will be no need for lawyers, just corrupt fixers, which is not really their core business.
If Jenner sues and gets another judge to temporarily (and later permanently) undo most of the XO's damage, that could give other law firms more spine when it is their turn. If you want to watch conservative superlawyer George Conway rant about how Paul, Weiss' decision to cave is the most disgraceful action by a law firm ever, here is the link. (V)