(Photo
by
MARTIN
BERNETTI/AFP
via
Getty
Images)
President
Donald
Trump
has
insisted
that
the
U.S.
will
soon
re-take
control
of
the
Panama
Canal,
making
threat
after
threat,
and
the
Panama
Canal
Authority
has
officially
lawyered
up.
As
first
noted
by
Reuters,
Vinson
&
Elkins
—
a
firm
that
brought
in
$1,003,453,000
gross
revenue
in
2023,
putting
it
at
No.
54
on
the
most
recent
Am
Law
100
—
is
providing
“legal
and
strategic
advice”
to
the
Autoridad
del
Canal
de
Panama
concerning
relations
with
the
U.S.
government.
Here
are
some
additional
details
on
the
representation:
The
work
includes
advising
the
canal
authority
and
potentially
engaging
with
U.S.
officials
in
connection
with
“congressional
inquiries,
legislative
actions,
executive
decisions,
treaties,
laws,
and
U.S.
policy,”
the
firm
said
in
the
filings,
which
were
dated
Jan.
31.Among
the
Vinson
lawyers
involved
is G.
Zachary
Terwilliger,
who
served
as
the
U.S.
attorney
for
the
Eastern
District
of
Virginia
during
the
first
Republican
Trump
administration.Vinson,
a
Houston-founded
firm
with
about
700
lawyers,
said
in
its
filings
that
Terwilliger
and
the
other
partners
involved
are
billing
the
Panama
Canal
Authority
between
$1,050
and
$1,500
an
hour.
The
firm
said
it
has
spent
$3.8
million
in
connection
with
its
work,
including
more
than
$780,000
on
“professional
fees
relating
to
non-registerable
legal
services”
from
U.S.
law
firm
Mayer
Brown.
Ten
Vinson
lawyers
are
working
on
the
matter,
and
the
firm
has
received
nearly
$7
million
in
fees
since
November.
Panama
Canal
Authority
hires
US
law
firm
amid
Trump
threats
[Reuters]
Staci
Zaretsky is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law,
where
she’s
worked
since
2011.
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