Another major international law firm has reached a deal with President Trump to dedicate at least $100 million in free legal services to causes such as supporting veterans and combating antisemitism, the White House and the law firm announced Tuesday. The agreement makes Willkie Farr & Gallagher the third law firm in the last two weeks to cut a deal with the White House to avert sanctions, per the AP. Under the agreement, Willkie also agreed to disavow the use of diversity, equity, and inclusion considerations in its hiring decisions and to not deny representation to any client "because of the personal political views of individual lawyers."
The resolution underscores the differing approaches some of the world's most elite law firms have taken as Trump aims to punish them in some instances over their association with prosecutors who've previously investigated him, as well as their perceived association with causes that are out of favor with the administration. The firm is home to Doug Emhoff, the husband of 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, and Timothy Heaphy, who was chief investigative counsel to the House of Representatives committee that investigated the Jan. 6 riot at the US Capitol. The firm also represented two former Georgia election workers in a successful defamation lawsuit against ex-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Leaders of Willkie learned Sunday that they'd be targeted for an executive order like the one leveled at nearly a half-dozen other major firms over the last month, per an internal email from the firm's executive committee seen by the AP. Emhoff made it known internally that he disagreed with this deal and told firm leadership they should fight, a source says. Last Friday, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom agreed to provide $100 million in pro bono legal services to avert an executive order, following the path of the Paul, Weiss firm, which cut a deal just a week after it was targeted.
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