Donald Trump’s war on Biglaw, through unconstitutional Executive Orders designed to break major law firms unless they bend a knee to Trump, has already had a tremendous impact on the industry. In the face of financial harm, nine major firms sought Trump’s seal of approval, providing pro bono payola, that is, free legal services on behalf of conservative clients or causes in order to avoid Trumpian retribution. But the chilling effect is even greater than those capitulating firms, because pro bono and public interest representations by Biglaw firms are down — significantly — as firms don’t want to risk Trump’s ire.
There have been a few examples of Biglaw firms that capitulated to Trump stepping up to provide the kinds of legal representation the nation is particularly desperate for in 2025, but it’s far from enough to cover the need that exists. It’s clear that Biglaw isn’t going to be our savior, and small and boutique law firms have helped fill in the gap. But the legal landscape keeps on getting worse, and it’s really an all-hands-on-deck moment.
Good thing there’s Democracy Forward, a 501(c)(3) legal organization that has more than 100 actions against the Trump administration in 2025. As Skye Perryman, CEO and president, told Law.com, “The demand for our work has grown much greater. There are a number of law firms that are not taking on the level of pro bono work, the level of pro democracy work that they did in the first Trump administration, or that they have historically, as a result of the president’s strategy to try to intimidate institutions.” And Democracy Forward is filling in the void created by Biglaw’s withdrawal, Perryman continued, “We have a number of clients and people and communities, diverse groups, coming to us needing that representation that they would have otherwise got from the private sector.”
Democracy Forward, which was created in the wake of the first Trump administration, is staffed by many former Biglaw and government attorneys. And they’ve expanded to 150 staff members, putting them in an excellent position to continue the legal fight against Trump. “We have always prioritized having full-time legal staff so that we could be able to take on matters ourselves when, for instance, larger institutions like some of the elite law firms that are not taking on pro bono matters, pull back,” said Perryman. “That’s why the demand for our work has exponentially grown.”
And it only looks like Democracy Forward will get busier.
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 @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.
The post Filling In The Void Caused By Biglaw’s Cowardice appeared first on Above the Law.
Donald Trump’s war on Biglaw, through unconstitutional Executive Orders designed to break major law firms unless they bend a knee to Trump, has already had a tremendous impact on the industry. In the face of financial harm, nine major firms sought Trump’s seal of approval, providing pro bono payola, that is, free legal services on behalf of conservative clients or causes in order to avoid Trumpian retribution. But the chilling effect is even greater than those capitulating firms, because pro bono and public interest representations by Biglaw firms are down — significantly — as firms don’t want to risk Trump’s ire.
There have been a few examples of Biglaw firms that capitulated to Trump stepping up to provide the kinds of legal representation the nation is particularly desperate for in 2025, but it’s far from enough to cover the need that exists. It’s clear that Biglaw isn’t going to be our savior, and small and boutique law firms have helped fill in the gap. But the legal landscape keeps on getting worse, and it’s really an all-hands-on-deck moment.
Good thing there’s Democracy Forward, a 501(c)(3) legal organization that has more than 100 actions against the Trump administration in 2025. As Skye Perryman, CEO and president, told Law.com, “The demand for our work has grown much greater. There are a number of law firms that are not taking on the level of pro bono work, the level of pro democracy work that they did in the first Trump administration, or that they have historically, as a result of the president’s strategy to try to intimidate institutions.” And Democracy Forward is filling in the void created by Biglaw’s withdrawal, Perryman continued, “We have a number of clients and people and communities, diverse groups, coming to us needing that representation that they would have otherwise got from the private sector.”
Democracy Forward, which was created in the wake of the first Trump administration, is staffed by many former Biglaw and government attorneys. And they’ve expanded to 150 staff members, putting them in an excellent position to continue the legal fight against Trump. “We have always prioritized having full-time legal staff so that we could be able to take on matters ourselves when, for instance, larger institutions like some of the elite law firms that are not taking on pro bono matters, pull back,” said Perryman. “That’s why the demand for our work has exponentially grown.”
And it only looks like Democracy Forward will get busier.
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].
