{"id":128741,"date":"2025-07-28T13:11:06","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T21:11:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/07\/28\/massive-slash-in-milbanks-hourly-rate-for-cities-fighting-trump\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T13:11:06","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T21:11:06","slug":"massive-slash-in-milbanks-hourly-rate-for-cities-fighting-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/07\/28\/massive-slash-in-milbanks-hourly-rate-for-cities-fighting-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"Massive Slash In Milbank\u2019s Hourly Rate \u2014 For Cities Fighting Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"

Milbank partner Neal Katyal is working on behalf of New Jersey \u201csanctuary cities\u201d \u2014 specifically Newark and Hoboken \u2014 in litigation against the federal government. The Trump administration filed a complaint against Newark and Hoboken (and two other cites) alleging<\/a> the jurisdictions were \u201cthwart[ing] federal immigration enforcement.\u201d In order to make the representation financially work, the high-profile litigator (and the other Milbank attorneys working on the matter) slashed his hourly rate<\/a> some 90%. Katyal normally charges $3,250 an hour, but that will be cut down to only $300 an hour, to be split between Newark and Hoboken. Reuters<\/a> has the deets on the funding:<\/p>\n

\n

Here, Milbank in defending the two cities said it agreed to reduce its standard rates because a third-party \u2014 the nonprofit Goodnation Foundation \u2014 is picking up part of the legal tab. Hoboken said it will not pay more than $53,000 in any calendar year to Milbank.<\/p>\n

In a statement on Friday, the Goodnation Foundation said it may help underwrite legal defense \u201cin select cases where the public interest is served and community needs are paramount.\u201d<\/p>\n

The foundation said it does not typically disclose details of its funding, which it said comes from \u201cdonors committed to advancing access to justice.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Given the witch hunt vibes<\/a> of 2025, it\u2019s news<\/a> when any law firm stands up to fight the oppressive policies of the Trump administration. But it\u2019s especially eye popping that Milbank is standing up to Trump \u2014 and not making its usual big bucks in the process.<\/p>\n

See, Milbank is one of the\u00a0nine Biglaw firms\u00a0<\/a>that courted infamy by capitulating to the threats of Donald Trump and agreeing to provide\u00a0hundred of millions<\/a>\u00a0 in pro bono payola\u00a0to conservative clients and causes<\/a>. These deals have garnered a lot of criticism from\u00a0around the industry.<\/a>\u00a0since the Executive Orders that were threatened were\u00a0unconstitutional<\/a>\u00a0power grabs and many wondered, if a firm won\u2019t stand up to the bullying of the Trump administration for themselves,\u00a0how will they do it for clients?<\/a><\/p>\n

So, after showing their belly to Trump, it is noteworthy Milbank is using their lawyerly skill to work against Trump \u2014 particularly on immigration, which has been a real sticking point for the administration. And it isn\u2019t the first time \u2014 Katyal is also working on the fight against the president\u2019s so-called \u201cLiberation Day\u201d tariffs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s clear that many firms that inked deals with Trump are merely trying to ride it out and are low key hoping <\/a>that pro bono bill never comes due. But Milbank\u2019s schizophrenic strategy of sucking up to Trump on one hand then railing against key Trumpian initiatives on the other is unique, and it\u2019ll be interesting to see how it all plays out.<\/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 Massive Slash In Milbank\u2019s Hourly Rate \u2014 For Cities Fighting Trump<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNeal Katyal (Photo by Eva Marie Uzcategui\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Milbank partner Neal Katyal is working on behalf of New Jersey \u201csanctuary cities\u201d \u2014 specifically Newark and Hoboken \u2014 in litigation against the federal government. The Trump administration filed a complaint against Newark and Hoboken (and two other cites) alleging<\/a> the jurisdictions were \u201cthwart[ing] federal immigration enforcement.\u201d In order to make the representation financially work, the high-profile litigator (and the other Milbank attorneys working on the matter) slashed his hourly rate<\/a> some 90%. Katyal normally charges $3,250 an hour, but that will be cut down to only $300 an hour, to be split between Newark and Hoboken. Reuters<\/a> has the deets on the funding:<\/p>\n

\n

Here, Milbank in defending the two cities said it agreed to reduce its standard rates because a third-party \u2014 the nonprofit Goodnation Foundation \u2014 is picking up part of the legal tab. Hoboken said it will not pay more than $53,000 in any calendar year to Milbank.<\/p>\n

In a statement on Friday, the Goodnation Foundation said it may help underwrite legal defense \u201cin select cases where the public interest is served and community needs are paramount.\u201d<\/p>\n

The foundation said it does not typically disclose details of its funding, which it said comes from \u201cdonors committed to advancing access to justice.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Given the witch hunt vibes<\/a> of 2025, it\u2019s news<\/a> when any law firm stands up to fight the oppressive policies of the Trump administration. But it\u2019s especially eye popping that Milbank is standing up to Trump \u2014 and not making its usual big bucks in the process.<\/p>\n

See, Milbank is one of the\u00a0nine Biglaw firms\u00a0<\/a>that courted infamy by capitulating to the threats of Donald Trump and agreeing to provide\u00a0hundred of millions<\/a>\u00a0 in pro bono payola\u00a0to conservative clients and causes<\/a>. These deals have garnered a lot of criticism from\u00a0around the industry.<\/a>\u00a0since the Executive Orders that were threatened were\u00a0unconstitutional<\/a>\u00a0power grabs and many wondered, if a firm won\u2019t stand up to the bullying of the Trump administration for themselves,\u00a0how will they do it for clients?<\/a><\/p>\n

So, after showing their belly to Trump, it is noteworthy Milbank is using their lawyerly skill to work against Trump \u2014 particularly on immigration, which has been a real sticking point for the administration. And it isn\u2019t the first time \u2014 Katyal is also working on the fight against the president\u2019s so-called \u201cLiberation Day\u201d tariffs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s clear that many firms that inked deals with Trump are merely trying to ride it out and are low key hoping <\/a>that pro bono bill never comes due. But Milbank\u2019s schizophrenic strategy of sucking up to Trump on one hand then railing against key Trumpian initiatives on the other is unique, and it\u2019ll be interesting to see how it all plays out.<\/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":"

Milbank partner Neal Katyal is working on behalf of New Jersey \u201csanctuary cities\u201d \u2014 specifically Newark and Hoboken \u2014 in litigation against the federal government. The Trump administration filed a complaint against Newark and Hoboken (and two other cites) alleging the jurisdictions were \u201cthwart[ing] federal immigration enforcement.\u201d In order to make the representation financially work, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":128695,"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-128741","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\/07\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568-I6XstI.jpg?fit=620%2C568&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128741","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=128741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128741\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}