{"id":131977,"date":"2025-08-25T13:57:57","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T21:57:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/08\/25\/skadden-advises-intel-on-trump-deal-because-what-are-a-few-obvious-conflicts-among-friends\/"},"modified":"2025-08-25T13:57:57","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T21:57:57","slug":"skadden-advises-intel-on-trump-deal-because-what-are-a-few-obvious-conflicts-among-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/08\/25\/skadden-advises-intel-on-trump-deal-because-what-are-a-few-obvious-conflicts-among-friends\/","title":{"rendered":"Skadden Advises Intel On Trump Deal, Because What Are A Few Obvious Conflicts Among Friends?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
(Photo by DON EMMERT\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Intel just agreed to give the federal government a roughly 10 percent ownership stake. It\u2019s reportedly a common stock deal that binds the federal government to vote with the board unless the board is voting to undermine the deal itself. The deal is a payoff for the CHIPS Act, a $280 billion funding authorization to boost the domestic semiconductor industry. The Biden administration pushed for the funding, Trump pushed for the vig. Theoretically, the equity stake belongs to the government and not Trump personally, but we thought that about Air Qatari One too<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The company needed lawyers to protect its interests in making such a consequential deal, so it turned to\u2026 a law firm that agreed to give Trump $100 million in free gifts in exchange for settling an attack on their ability to stay in business. It\u2019s the sort of fact pattern a professional responsibility professor couldn\u2019t put on an exam or they\u2019d be laughed out of the academy: a sophisticated client, a well-heeled firm, and a high-stakes extortion effort.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s getting flack from some Democrats pointing out that a Republican just went further in seizing the means of production than any fever dream Fox News ever cooked up about Zohran Mamdani. But that assumes the Trump administration is guided by a \u201ccoherent economic vision\u201d or \u201csense of shame.\u201d<\/p>\n

To be honest, I\u2019ve always thought deals like this made a lot of sense. The federal government took an ownership stake in GM in exchange for its bailout during the Obama administration. As a consequence, when the manufacturer came back, taxpayers were much better off than when they went in. For all the scare-mongering over socialism, the American economic system already rests on capitalistic gains and socialized losses. Taking an equity stake lets the taxpayers in on the gains too. It also helps avoid \u201cpicking winners and losers\u201d if the beneficiaries of government cash have to share a slice of their gains with the public that their better managed competitors don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Frankly, this is how every financially ruinous stadium deal should get handled \u2014 if the owner wants a handout for the team, then the investment should pay off directly<\/em> and not rely on some trickle-down nonsense. <\/p>\n

But that doesn\u2019t mean deals should be negotiated by lawyers who recently settled an extortion bid for $100 million with the counterparty<\/em>. <\/p>\n

Intel is not a mom-and-pop cobbler blissfully unaware of its lawyers\u2019 dealings. It\u2019s a sophisticated party that knew<\/em> Skadden is $100 million in hock to the Trump administration. Indeed, it likely counted on it.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration walked up to Intel and said, \u201cnice little funding authorization you got there\u2026 shame if something happened to it,\u201d and Intel immediately turned to lawyers who already surrendered to a similar threat for advice. It\u2019s not because they were thoroughly impressed with Skadden\u2019s brilliant negotiation there (if they were impressed by that\u2026 then maybe it explains why they needed a bailout). As J.D. Vance, Yale Law\u2019s enduring shame, already proved, Trump doesn\u2019t care what you\u2019ve done to him in the past as long as you\u2019re willing to be obsequious today. Skadden earned a lot of good will with the administration by coughing up pro bono commitments. Good will that Intel would be remiss to pass up.<\/p>\n

And Intel is exactly the sort of client the rules trust to make an informed waiver. <\/p>\n

While professional responsibility focuses primarily on the client, it\u2019s also \u2014 at least somewhat \u2014 a matter of protecting public trust in the profession. Just because the client can waive a conflict doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s good for the legal industry to have firms owing the government still unfulfilled<\/em> nine-digit settlements while ostensibly negotiating against it. That\u2019s how the public loses its already rock bottom faith in lawyers.<\/p>\n

Ideally, ethics rules shouldn\u2019t just exist to keep dumb clients from getting tricked. They should also keep smart clients<\/em> from normalizing corruption.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Skadden Advises Intel On Trump Deal, Because What Are A Few Obvious Conflicts Among Friends?<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
(Photo by DON EMMERT\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Intel just agreed to give the federal government a roughly 10 percent ownership stake. It\u2019s reportedly a common stock deal that binds the federal government to vote with the board unless the board is voting to undermine the deal itself. The deal is a payoff for the CHIPS Act, a $280 billion funding authorization to boost the domestic semiconductor industry. The Biden administration pushed for the funding, Trump pushed for the vig. Theoretically, the equity stake belongs to the government and not Trump personally, but we thought that about Air Qatari One too<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The company needed lawyers to protect its interests in making such a consequential deal, so it turned to\u2026 a law firm that agreed to give Trump $100 million in free gifts in exchange for settling an attack on their ability to stay in business. It\u2019s the sort of fact pattern a professional responsibility professor couldn\u2019t put on an exam or they\u2019d be laughed out of the academy: a sophisticated client, a well-heeled firm, and a high-stakes extortion effort.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s getting flack from some Democrats pointing out that a Republican just went further in seizing the means of production than any fever dream Fox News ever cooked up about Zohran Mamdani. But that assumes the Trump administration is guided by a \u201ccoherent economic vision\u201d or \u201csense of shame.\u201d<\/p>\n

To be honest, I\u2019ve always thought deals like this made a lot of sense. The federal government took an ownership stake in GM in exchange for its bailout during the Obama administration. As a consequence, when the manufacturer came back, taxpayers were much better off than when they went in. For all the scare-mongering over socialism, the American economic system already rests on capitalistic gains and socialized losses. Taking an equity stake lets the taxpayers in on the gains too. It also helps avoid \u201cpicking winners and losers\u201d if the beneficiaries of government cash have to share a slice of their gains with the public that their better managed competitors don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Frankly, this is how every financially ruinous stadium deal should get handled \u2014 if the owner wants a handout for the team, then the investment should pay off directly<\/em> and not rely on some trickle-down nonsense. <\/p>\n

But that doesn\u2019t mean deals should be negotiated by lawyers who recently settled an extortion bid for $100 million with the counterparty<\/em>. <\/p>\n

Intel is not a mom-and-pop cobbler blissfully unaware of its lawyers\u2019 dealings. It\u2019s a sophisticated party that knew<\/em> Skadden is $100 million in hock to the Trump administration. Indeed, it likely counted on it.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration walked up to Intel and said, \u201cnice little funding authorization you got there\u2026 shame if something happened to it,\u201d and Intel immediately turned to lawyers who already surrendered to a similar threat for advice. It\u2019s not because they were thoroughly impressed with Skadden\u2019s brilliant negotiation there (if they were impressed by that\u2026 then maybe it explains why they needed a bailout). As J.D. Vance, Yale Law\u2019s enduring shame, already proved, Trump doesn\u2019t care what you\u2019ve done to him in the past as long as you\u2019re willing to be obsequious today. Skadden earned a lot of good will with the administration by coughing up pro bono commitments. Good will that Intel would be remiss to pass up.<\/p>\n

And Intel is exactly the sort of client the rules trust to make an informed waiver. <\/p>\n

While professional responsibility focuses primarily on the client, it\u2019s also \u2014 at least somewhat \u2014 a matter of protecting public trust in the profession. Just because the client can waive a conflict doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s good for the legal industry to have firms owing the government still unfulfilled<\/em> nine-digit settlements while ostensibly negotiating against it. That\u2019s how the public loses its already rock bottom faith in lawyers.<\/p>\n

Ideally, ethics rules shouldn\u2019t just exist to keep dumb clients from getting tricked. They should also keep smart clients<\/em> from normalizing corruption.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Photo by DON EMMERT\/AFP via Getty Images) Intel just agreed to give the federal government a roughly 10 percent ownership stake. It\u2019s reportedly a common stock deal that binds the federal government to vote with the board unless the board is voting to undermine the deal itself. The deal is a payoff for the CHIPS […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"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-131977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131977","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=131977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131977\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}