by
David
Becker/Getty
Images)
By
now,
followers
of
the
legal
industry
—
and
even
those
outside
—
are
aware
that
a
number
of
Biglaw
firms
decided
to
capitulate
to
the
threats
of
Donald
Trump
rather
than
defend
the
rule
of
law.
We
may
never
know
exactly
how
that
sausage
was
made
—
what
combination
of
greed,
self-interest,
apathy,
naivety,
and
pragmatism
came
together
at
each
firm
that
led
them
to
make
these
terrible
deals.
But
there
are
some
clues
about
what
went
on.
Like
the
fact
that
in
the
run
up
to
bending
a
knee,
both
Kirkland
&
Ellis
and
Simpson
Thacher
paid
lobbyists
with
strong
ties
to
Donald
Trump
to
advise
them.
As
reported
by
Law.com:
Kirkland
&
Ellis
and
Simpson
Thacher
&
Bartlett
each
turned
to
lobbying
powerhouse
Ballard
Partners
for
“advice
related
to
employment
practices”
as
they
were
forming
a deal with
the
White
House,
according
to
new
lobbying
disclosures.
Kirkland
and
Simpson
Thacher
each
paid
Ballard
$100,000
for
lobbying
work
on
their
firm’s
behalf
in
the
first
quarter
of
this
year,
according
to
the
new
Lobbying
Disclosure
Act
filings.The
registered
lobbyists
for
Kirkland
and
Simpson
included
Brian
Ballard,
who
founded
Ballard
Partners
and
was
a
top
fundraiser
for
President
Donald
Trump,
as
well
as
partners
Justin
Sayfie
and
Sylvester
Lukis.
As
part
of
their
deals
with
the
administration,
both
Kirkland
and
Simpson
also
settled
the
EEOC
investigations
into
their
DEI
programs.
No
wonder
they
inked
deals
with
Trump.
Much
like
AI,
when
you
put
garbage
in,
you
get
garbage
out.
But
even
outside
the
analogy,
it
also
underscores
the
amount
of
money
and
effort
the
firms
put
in
to
taking
the
cowardly
way
out.
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
follow
her
on
Twitter
@Kathryn1 or
Mastodon
@[email protected].