Eight Law Firms Pledge Over $1 Billion to Trump Causes as Paul Weiss Promised $40 Million
Updated
Updated · Vanity Fair · Aug 2
Eight Law Firms Pledge Over $1 Billion to Trump Causes as Paul Weiss Promised $40 Million
3 articles · Updated · Vanity Fair · Aug 2
Summary
Eight firms have now agreed to provide more than $1 billion in pro bono work for causes backed by Donald Trump, extending a pattern set off by Paul Weiss's 2025 White House deal.
Paul Weiss secured relief from a March 14, 2025 executive order after chairman Brad Karp, through client Robert Kraft, met Trump and promised $40 million in free legal services.
That concession helped spur broader pressure on the legal industry: Trump soon ordered then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek sanctions against other lawyers who sued his administration, though four firms later won injunctions.
Inside Paul Weiss, the episode exposed a long-running split between civil-rights litigation and corporate priorities; since the deal, the firm has taken no suits against the Trump administration and lost several prominent lawyers.
The fallout has begun to hit recruiting and reputation, with legal recruiters saying the once-elite litigation firm now looks less attractive than peers that avoided similar deals.