{"id":112830,"date":"2025-03-31T15:04:22","date_gmt":"2025-03-31T23:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/03\/31\/skadden-associates-plotting-protest-against-cowardly-firm\/"},"modified":"2025-03-31T15:04:22","modified_gmt":"2025-03-31T23:04:22","slug":"skadden-associates-plotting-protest-against-cowardly-firm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/03\/31\/skadden-associates-plotting-protest-against-cowardly-firm\/","title":{"rendered":"Skadden Associates Plotting Protest Against Cowardly Firm"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" height=\"434\" width=\"620\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/11\/GettyImages-1227023178-620x434.jpg?resize=620%2C434&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Last week, Biglaw firm Skadden Arps bent a knee to the Trump administration, striking a deal that includes\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/03\/skadden-makes-100-million-settlement-with-trump-in-pro-bono-payola\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">$100 million in pro bono payola<\/a> to prevent Donald Trump from lashing out with an Executive Order targeting the firm. In the aftermath of that wildly controversial deal, <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/03\/skadden-learns-the-first-rule-of-blocking-mass-emails-is-do-not-send-mass-emails\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Above the Law reported<\/a>\u00a0that Skadden shut off the ability for its attorneys to send emails via large internal distribution lists. As they seemingly tried (<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/03\/skadden-senior-associate-quits-after-firms-craven-capitulation-to-trump\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">and failed<\/a>) to avoid the kind of spectacle that happened earlier this month when third-year associate Rachel Cohen\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/03\/a-third-year-skadden-associate-is-the-only-person-in-biglaw-willing-to-publicly-condemn-trumps-threat-to-the-rule-of-law\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">quit Skadden via firmwide email<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But not every associate who hates what the firm has done has the financial wherewithal to just quit their six-figure job. Those student loans won\u2019t pay for themselves and many markets are <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/02\/its-not-a-great-time-to-be-a-lawyer-looking-for-a-job-in-d-c\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">seeing a glut of attorneys <\/a>looking for work after the DOGE <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/03\/the-latest-caught-in-donald-trumps-firing-frenzy\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">wrecking ball <\/a>made a mess. So maybe it isn\u2019t surprising that there\u2019s some organizing going around trying to find other ways to let the firm know what they think.<\/p>\n<p>As<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/03\/are-associates-going-to-go-on-strike-over-biglaws-cowardice\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> previously floated by Cohen<\/a>, some at the firm are opting out of recruitment events to simultaneously have an impact on the firm without jeopardizing their client work. Multiple sources at the firm say they\u2019ve received the below email trying to rally Skaddenites into taking some sort of action against the firm.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"853\" height=\"1280\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/03\/Skadden-email-1-edited.jpeg?resize=853%2C1280&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1154518\" title=\"\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/03\/skadden-email-2-768x1024.jpeg?resize=768%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1154469\" title=\"\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It makes sense that associates are organizing in this way. In addition to the whole low-risk-to-their-own-career aspect, having to sell law students on the benefits of working for Skadden at a time when associates just don\u2019t respect the firm a lot seems particularly fraught. <\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong><em><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-80083 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/06\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568.jpg?resize=174%2C160&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"174\" height=\"160\" title=\"\">Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/1XC11QhFCWxWr4NQrk2sEA\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of <a href=\"https:\/\/legaltalknetwork.com\/podcasts\/thinking-like-a-lawyer\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email <a href=\"mailto:kathryn@abovethelaw.com?subject=Your%20Column\" target='_blank\"' rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">her<\/a> with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/03\/skadden-associates-plotting-protest-against-cowardly-firm\/%E2%80%9C\/\/twitter.com\/Kathryn1%22%E2%80%9D\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Mastodon <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/03\/skadden-associates-plotting-protest-against-cowardly-firm\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@Kathryn1@mastodon.social.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/03\/skadden-associates-plotting-protest-against-cowardly-firm\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Skadden Associates Plotting Protest Against Cowardly Firm<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" height=\"434\" width=\"620\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/11\/GettyImages-1227023178-620x434.jpg?resize=620%2C434&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Last week, Biglaw firm Skadden Arps bent a knee to the Trump administration, striking a deal that includes\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/03\/skadden-makes-100-million-settlement-with-trump-in-pro-bono-payola\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">$100 million in pro bono payola<\/a> to prevent Donald Trump from lashing out with an Executive Order targeting the firm. In the aftermath of that wildly controversial deal, <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/03\/skadden-learns-the-first-rule-of-blocking-mass-emails-is-do-not-send-mass-emails\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Above the Law reported<\/a>\u00a0that Skadden shut off the ability for its attorneys to send emails via large internal distribution lists. As they seemingly tried (<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/03\/skadden-senior-associate-quits-after-firms-craven-capitulation-to-trump\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">and failed<\/a>) to avoid the kind of spectacle that happened earlier this month when third-year associate Rachel Cohen\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/03\/a-third-year-skadden-associate-is-the-only-person-in-biglaw-willing-to-publicly-condemn-trumps-threat-to-the-rule-of-law\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">quit Skadden via firmwide email<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But not every associate who hates what the firm has done has the financial wherewithal to just quit their six-figure job. Those student loans won\u2019t pay for themselves and many markets are <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/02\/its-not-a-great-time-to-be-a-lawyer-looking-for-a-job-in-d-c\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">seeing a glut of attorneys <\/a>looking for work after the DOGE <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/03\/the-latest-caught-in-donald-trumps-firing-frenzy\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">wrecking ball <\/a>made a mess. So maybe it isn\u2019t surprising that there\u2019s some organizing going around trying to find other ways to let the firm know what they think.<\/p>\n<p>As<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/03\/are-associates-going-to-go-on-strike-over-biglaws-cowardice\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> previously floated by Cohen<\/a>, some at the firm are opting out of recruitment events to simultaneously have an impact on the firm without jeopardizing their client work. Multiple sources at the firm say they\u2019ve received the below email trying to rally Skaddenites into taking some sort of action against the firm.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"853\" height=\"1280\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/03\/Skadden-email-1-edited.jpeg?resize=853%2C1280&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1154518\" title=\"\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/03\/skadden-email-2-768x1024.jpeg?resize=768%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1154469\" title=\"\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It makes sense that associates are organizing in this way. In addition to the whole low-risk-to-their-own-career aspect, having to sell law students on the benefits of working for Skadden at a time when associates just don\u2019t respect the firm a lot seems particularly fraught. <\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong><em><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-80083 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/06\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568.jpg?resize=174%2C160&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"174\" height=\"160\" title=\"\">Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/1XC11QhFCWxWr4NQrk2sEA\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of <a href=\"https:\/\/legaltalknetwork.com\/podcasts\/thinking-like-a-lawyer\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#9df6fce9f5efe4f3ddfcfff2ebf8e9f5f8f1fceab3fef2f0a2eee8fff7f8fee9a0c4f2e8efb8afaddef2f1e8f0f3\" target=\"_blank&quot;\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">her<\/a> with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/03\/skadden-associates-plotting-protest-against-cowardly-firm\/%E2%80%9C\/\/twitter.com\/Kathryn1%22%E2%80%9D\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Mastodon <a href=\"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@Kathryn1%22%22\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@[email\u00a0protected].<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, Biglaw firm Skadden Arps bent a knee to the Trump administration, striking a deal that includes\u00a0$100 million in pro bono payola to prevent Donald Trump from lashing out with an Executive Order targeting the firm. In the aftermath of that wildly controversial deal, Above the Law reported\u00a0that Skadden shut off the ability for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":112799,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568-wlCCaM.jpeg?fit=620%2C568&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}