From 3h ago
Donald Trump announced that the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom has agreed to provide at least $100m in pro bono legal services to the federal government during this administration.
It is the latest example of legal firms caving in to pressure from the Trump administration, and appears to be the first instance where a firm has preemptively struck a deal to avoid Trump’s executive orders targeting law firms and attorneys who challenge his priorities, per the New York Times (paywall). It was unclear why Skadden drew Trump’s ire but Elon Musk has criticised the firm over its work in a lawsuit against a rightwing media critic, Dinesh D’Souza, according to the NYT.
Announcing the deal on Friday, Trump said:
This was essentially a settlement. We appreciate their coming to the table.
As my colleague Sam Levine reported on Wednesday, scholars and experts say there is little doubt that Trump’s executive orders are a thinly-veiled effort to intimidate lawyers who might otherwise challenge the administration. The actions undermine a key element of the American democratic system by limiting the ability of potential adversaries to access the judicial system, one of the most powerful checks on executive power.
Trump got a huge boost last week when the law firm Paul Weiss accepted his demands in exchange for withdrawing the executive...
On March 25, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Evolutions Flooring Inc., an importer of multilayered wood flooring, and its owners agreed to pay $8.1 Million to settle False Clai...