{"id":118061,"date":"2025-05-06T15:59:43","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T23:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/05\/06\/the-stench-of-capitulation-lingers-on-biglaw-firms-in-league-with-trump\/"},"modified":"2025-05-06T15:59:43","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T23:59:43","slug":"the-stench-of-capitulation-lingers-on-biglaw-firms-in-league-with-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/05\/06\/the-stench-of-capitulation-lingers-on-biglaw-firms-in-league-with-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"The Stench Of Capitulation Lingers On Biglaw Firms In League With Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week, one of the biggest stories in Biglaw was Microsoft\u2019s change in attorneys. In a key piece of litigation, they ditched Simpson Thacher (a firm that capitulated to Donald Trump <\/a>and promised $125 million in pro bono payola for whatever causes Trump fancies<\/a>) for Jenner & Block (a firm that is fighting Trump vindictiveness<\/a> in court). It seems when your firm is in the news for \u201cfail[ing] the American people<\/a>\u201d and backing down from a legal fight, confidence in your ability to fight on behalf of your clients waivers.<\/p>\n

And Microsoft isn\u2019t the only company steering work away from the yellow-bellied nine.<\/a><\/p>\n

According to reporting b<\/a>y Law.com, several general counsels have a dim view of those in the \u201corder of obsequiousness<\/a>.\u201d One energy company GC said, \u201cI have pulled firms off of prospective new work. I had Skadden on one, and I had Willkie on another, and I pulled them off because of their settlement. I\u2019m literally in a thread with other GCs, and those two firms have been pulled from other people\u2019s panels as well.\u201d The energy GC continued, \u201cmore than a dozen companies are actively [issuing requests for proposals] for new work, and they\u2019ve just changed the panel. Firms that they would normally have gone to, they\u2019ve just pulled them out.\u201d<\/p>\n

A tech GC took a similar position.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have a ton of work right now; I have work only with one of the firms, and it\u2019s a very small project, but it\u2019s highly sensitive. I can\u2019t move it yet, but I will move it when I can, and for any new work, I absolutely will not send it to any of the firms that capitulated,\u201d said one general counsel with expertise in tech, who would only speak under the condition of anonymity to protect client relationships.<\/p>\n

Lawyers, both in-house and at other firms, are taking a keen interest in how other firms have responded to Trump\u2019s demands.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of spreadsheets being shared,\u201d the tech GC said, containing data on \u201cwhich firms have capitulated, which firms haven\u2019t, and who are the partners to contact to put pressure [on] if you use the firm,\u201d they added. \u201cThere was a lot of activism in the first few weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The public move by Microsoft is also a catalyst for others to make a change. Because, as the tech GC noted, though it\u2019s \u201cmore of a struggle to move all your book of business away immediately, because you have relationships with those firms over a long period of time, and especially in corporate, it\u2019s harder to move away.\u201d But, \u201cwhen somebody like Microsoft publicly does this, what it means is, if there is tension between the GC who wants to move work and the executive team who may not know or care, it gives the GCs evidence and backup. \u2026 It\u2019s not just validating for me as a GC, it\u2019s ammunition for me to go to my executive team and board and say, \u2018no, this is a big deal, and even Microsoft is doing it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Yeah, there\u2019s just something about \u201cactively volunteering the firm to an administration that is doing things that are inherently oppositional to the rule of law. \u2026 It doesn\u2019t feel like a smart business move to associate ourselves with a firm that is donating its time to an administration that many find repellent,\u201d as the energy GC said.<\/p>\n

Turns out, bending a knee to a bully is also a bad business decision.<\/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 Stench Of Capitulation Lingers On Biglaw Firms In League With Trump<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Last week, one of the biggest stories in Biglaw was Microsoft\u2019s change in attorneys. In a key piece of litigation, they ditched Simpson Thacher (a firm that capitulated to Donald Trump <\/a>and promised $125 million in pro bono payola for whatever causes Trump fancies<\/a>) for Jenner & Block (a firm that is fighting Trump vindictiveness<\/a> in court). It seems when your firm is in the news for \u201cfail[ing] the American people<\/a>\u201d and backing down from a legal fight, confidence in your ability to fight on behalf of your clients waivers.<\/p>\n

And Microsoft isn\u2019t the only company steering work away from the yellow-bellied nine.<\/a><\/p>\n

According to reporting b<\/a>y Law.com, several general counsels have a dim view of those in the \u201corder of obsequiousness<\/a>.\u201d One energy company GC said, \u201cI have pulled firms off of prospective new work. I had Skadden on one, and I had Willkie on another, and I pulled them off because of their settlement. I\u2019m literally in a thread with other GCs, and those two firms have been pulled from other people\u2019s panels as well.\u201d The energy GC continued, \u201cmore than a dozen companies are actively [issuing requests for proposals] for new work, and they\u2019ve just changed the panel. Firms that they would normally have gone to, they\u2019ve just pulled them out.\u201d<\/p>\n

A tech GC took a similar position.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have a ton of work right now; I have work only with one of the firms, and it\u2019s a very small project, but it\u2019s highly sensitive. I can\u2019t move it yet, but I will move it when I can, and for any new work, I absolutely will not send it to any of the firms that capitulated,\u201d said one general counsel with expertise in tech, who would only speak under the condition of anonymity to protect client relationships.<\/p>\n

Lawyers, both in-house and at other firms, are taking a keen interest in how other firms have responded to Trump\u2019s demands.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of spreadsheets being shared,\u201d the tech GC said, containing data on \u201cwhich firms have capitulated, which firms haven\u2019t, and who are the partners to contact to put pressure [on] if you use the firm,\u201d they added. \u201cThere was a lot of activism in the first few weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The public move by Microsoft is also a catalyst for others to make a change. Because, as the tech GC noted, though it\u2019s \u201cmore of a struggle to move all your book of business away immediately, because you have relationships with those firms over a long period of time, and especially in corporate, it\u2019s harder to move away.\u201d But, \u201cwhen somebody like Microsoft publicly does this, what it means is, if there is tension between the GC who wants to move work and the executive team who may not know or care, it gives the GCs evidence and backup. \u2026 It\u2019s not just validating for me as a GC, it\u2019s ammunition for me to go to my executive team and board and say, \u2018no, this is a big deal, and even Microsoft is doing it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Yeah, there\u2019s just something about \u201cactively volunteering the firm to an administration that is doing things that are inherently oppositional to the rule of law. \u2026 It doesn\u2019t feel like a smart business move to associate ourselves with a firm that is donating its time to an administration that many find repellent,\u201d as the energy GC said.<\/p>\n

Turns out, bending a knee to a bully is also a bad business decision.<\/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 @[email\u00a0protected].<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, one of the biggest stories in Biglaw was Microsoft\u2019s change in attorneys. In a key piece of litigation, they ditched Simpson Thacher (a firm that capitulated to Donald Trump and promised $125 million in pro bono payola for whatever causes Trump fancies) for Jenner & Block (a firm that is fighting Trump vindictiveness […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":118007,"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-118061","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\/05\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568-dglfPg.jpeg?fit=620%2C568&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118061","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=118061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}