{"id":117010,"date":"2025-04-29T15:38:52","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T23:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/04\/29\/the-curious-case-of-sullivan-cromwells-relationship-with-donald-trump\/"},"modified":"2025-04-29T15:38:52","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T23:38:52","slug":"the-curious-case-of-sullivan-cromwells-relationship-with-donald-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/04\/29\/the-curious-case-of-sullivan-cromwells-relationship-with-donald-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"The Curious Case Of Sullivan & Cromwell\u2019s Relationship With Donald Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last month, faced\u00a0with an Executive Order<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 described by the right as\u00a0designed to bankrupt<\/a>\u00a0the firm \u2014 Paul Weiss chairman Brad Karp kissed the ring of Donald Trump. It was the first deal<\/a> between a Biglaw firm and the Trump administration, and forever changed the relationship between the biggest and most powerful law firms and the creep of authoritarianism.<\/p>\n

But how exactly did it happen?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been widely reported that, in addition to Paul Weiss\u2019s Karp, Bill Burck of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan represented PW during the negotiations, and Trump personal counsel Boris Epshteyn was involved. And, curiously, Bob Giuffra, co-chair of Sullivan & Cromwell, was also part of the negotiation.<\/p>\n

S&C took on Donald Trump\u2019s criminal appeal (to much internal strife<\/a>), so there\u2019s been speculation that\u2019s how Giuffra got roped into selling out Biglaw. But according to reporting by<\/a> Law.com, S&C says Giuffra was brought into the matter by a PW partner:<\/p>\n

\n

According to a source familiar with the matter, a Paul Weiss partner reached out to a friend, Kramer Levin partner Richard Farley, soon after Trump signed the executive order against Paul Weiss. In those discussions, the Paul Weiss partner\u2014whose identity is not clear\u2014asked for Farley\u2019s help in securing a meeting with the White House. (Farley at one point was considered a contender to be Trump\u2019s choice to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission.) Farley offered to contact Giuffra, but only after the Paul Weiss partner confirmed with him that Karp had approved the request to ask for Giuffra\u2019s help, the source said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

However, Karp says he was \u201cunaware of Mr. Giuffra\u2019s involvement in this matter prior to March 19th,\u201d which was when the negotiations between PW and Trump began.<\/p>\n

Patriots CEO Robert Kraft was also involved in the March 19th deal for reasons that remain unclear. But once Trump, Karp and Giuffra got to talking they hashed out the Very Important\u2122 national security and discrimination issues that were the facial justification for the Paul Weiss EO. Just kidding. They talked about golf. During the March 19 Oval Office meeting between Trump and Karp, the White House called Giuffra, who was in New York at the time, to connect him to the meeting by phone. The president asked who was the better lawyer between the two. Giuffra responded by saying he was the better golfer, and then Karp, Trump and Giuffra proceeded to talk about golf for about 15 minutes, according to a source familiar with the events.<\/p>\n

Karp, Burck, Giuffra and Epshteyn were left by Trump to hammer out the terms of the deal. And like every deal that\u2019s totally legit, not at all sketchy and not subject to the whims of an egotistical bully<\/a>, the actual deal remained unsigned.<\/p>\n

The entire situation has left many wondering what role Giuffra really has in the administration. According to reports, Giuffra also answered questions from his partners about his role in the PW deal once that became public. But he says that the first deal was the only he was involved in.<\/p>\n

\n

A Sullivan & Cromwell spokesperson said there\u2019s been a \u201cmisunderstanding of the facts.\u201d Giuffra has had no role in deal talks with firms besides Paul Weiss, the spokesperson said, and hasn\u2019t known about any law firm executive order until they were issued.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had no knowledge of any law firm executive orders (including the Paul, Weiss Executive Order) before those orders became public, and no involvement in any of the other law firm resolutions except for Paul, Weiss,\u201d the firm\u2019s spokesperson said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Also noteworthy is S&Cs silence on the EOs<\/a> targeting Biglaw firms, and the chilling impact they\u2019ve had on the industry.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her<\/a> with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post The Curious Case Of Sullivan & Cromwell\u2019s Relationship With Donald Trump<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Last month, faced\u00a0with an Executive Order<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 described by the right as\u00a0designed to bankrupt<\/a>\u00a0the firm \u2014 Paul Weiss chairman Brad Karp kissed the ring of Donald Trump. It was the first deal<\/a> between a Biglaw firm and the Trump administration, and forever changed the relationship between the biggest and most powerful law firms and the creep of authoritarianism.<\/p>\n

But how exactly did it happen?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been widely reported that, in addition to Paul Weiss\u2019s Karp, Bill Burck of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan represented PW during the negotiations, and Trump personal counsel Boris Epshteyn was involved. And, curiously, Bob Giuffra, co-chair of Sullivan & Cromwell, was also part of the negotiation.<\/p>\n

S&C took on Donald Trump\u2019s criminal appeal (to much internal strife<\/a>), so there\u2019s been speculation that\u2019s how Giuffra got roped into selling out Biglaw. But according to reporting by<\/a> Law.com, S&C says Giuffra was brought into the matter by a PW partner:<\/p>\n

\n

According to a source familiar with the matter, a Paul Weiss partner reached out to a friend, Kramer Levin partner Richard Farley, soon after Trump signed the executive order against Paul Weiss. In those discussions, the Paul Weiss partner\u2014whose identity is not clear\u2014asked for Farley\u2019s help in securing a meeting with the White House. (Farley at one point was considered a contender to be Trump\u2019s choice to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission.) Farley offered to contact Giuffra, but only after the Paul Weiss partner confirmed with him that Karp had approved the request to ask for Giuffra\u2019s help, the source said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

However, Karp says he was \u201cunaware of Mr. Giuffra\u2019s involvement in this matter prior to March 19th,\u201d which was when the negotiations between PW and Trump began.<\/p>\n

Patriots CEO Robert Kraft was also involved in the March 19th deal for reasons that remain unclear. But once Trump, Karp and Giuffra got to talking they hashed out the Very Important\u2122 national security and discrimination issues that were the facial justification for the Paul Weiss EO. Just kidding. They talked about golf. During the March 19 Oval Office meeting between Trump and Karp, the White House called Giuffra, who was in New York at the time, to connect him to the meeting by phone. The president asked who was the better lawyer between the two. Giuffra responded by saying he was the better golfer, and then Karp, Trump and Giuffra proceeded to talk about golf for about 15 minutes, according to a source familiar with the events.<\/p>\n

Karp, Burck, Giuffra and Epshteyn were left by Trump to hammer out the terms of the deal. And like every deal that\u2019s totally legit, not at all sketchy and not subject to the whims of an egotistical bully<\/a>, the actual deal remained unsigned.<\/p>\n

The entire situation has left many wondering what role Giuffra really has in the administration. According to reports, Giuffra also answered questions from his partners about his role in the PW deal once that became public. But he says that the first deal was the only he was involved in.<\/p>\n

\n

A Sullivan & Cromwell spokesperson said there\u2019s been a \u201cmisunderstanding of the facts.\u201d Giuffra has had no role in deal talks with firms besides Paul Weiss, the spokesperson said, and hasn\u2019t known about any law firm executive order until they were issued.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had no knowledge of any law firm executive orders (including the Paul, Weiss Executive Order) before those orders became public, and no involvement in any of the other law firm resolutions except for Paul, Weiss,\u201d the firm\u2019s spokesperson said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Also noteworthy is S&Cs silence on the EOs<\/a> targeting Biglaw firms, and the chilling impact they\u2019ve had on the industry.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her<\/a> with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post The Curious Case Of Sullivan & Cromwell\u2019s Relationship With Donald Trump<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last month, faced\u00a0with an Executive Order\u00a0\u2014 described by the right as\u00a0designed to bankrupt\u00a0the firm \u2014 Paul Weiss chairman Brad Karp kissed the ring of Donald Trump. It was the first deal between a Biglaw firm and the Trump administration, and forever changed the relationship between the biggest and most powerful law firms and the creep […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":117011,"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-117010","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\/04\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568-YtwOdM.jpeg?fit=620%2C568&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117010","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=117010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}