by
Brendan
McDermid-Pool/Getty
Images)
With
Skadden
joining
Paul
Weiss
in
bowing
to
Donald
Trump’s
effort
to
silence
Biglaw,
the
White
House
feels
duly
emboldened
that
they
can
bully
lawyers
into
looking
the
other
way
when
it
comes
to
the
rule
of
law.
As
firms
give
in
to
his
threats,
he
successfully
sidelines
powerful
lawyers
that
might
otherwise
take
the
government
to
court
when
he
names
his
horse
Consul
for
Life
or
whatever
is
coming
next
month.
And
so
Trump
has
fired
off
another
threat,
this
time
to
WilmerHale
in
the
form
of
an
executive
order
stripping
their
lawyers
of
security
clearances
too.
Now
they’ll
just
have
to
join
Signal
to
get
access
to
classified
documents.
WilmerHale
had
already
been
targeted
by
the
administration’s
bogus
EEOC
volley
—
and
this
order
cites
diversity
as
one
of
the
reasons
he’s
trying
to
gut
their
government
practice
—
but
the
real
reason
he’s
hot
for
WilmerHale
appears
as
the
final
bullet
point:
WilmerHale
rewarded
Robert
Mueller
and
two
of
his
colleagues
by
welcoming
them
to
the
firm
after
they
wielded
the
power
of
the
Federal
government
to
lead
a
partisan
“investigation”
against
the
President
and
others.
Mueller’s
investigation
epitomizes
the
weaponization
of
government.
What
a
weird
thing
to
be
mad
about
because
someone
told
me
Bob
Mueller’s
report
worked
out
great
for
Trump…
No
Collusion,
No
Obstruction,
Complete
and
Total
EXONERATION.
KEEP
AMERICA
GREAT!—
Donald
J.
Trump
(@realDonaldTrump)
March
24,
2019
Surely
Trump
wouldn’t
lie
about
a
thing
like
that.
The
order
takes
away
security
clearances,
terminates
government
work
with
the
firm
and
bans
agencies
from
hiring
Wilmer
alums
“unless
specifically
authorized.”
And
it
escalated
the
EEOC
threat
by
laying
out
a
future
Title
VII
case.
Will
WilmerHale
take
the
fight
to
the
courts
like
Perkins
Coie
or
cave
like
Paul
Weiss
and
Skadden?
It’s
March
Madness
time
and
yet
somehow
that’s
the
hottest
bet
going
right
now.
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
Bluesky
if
you’re
interested
in
law,
politics,
and
a
healthy
dose
of
college
sports
news.
Joe
also
serves
as
a
Managing
Director
at
RPN
Executive
Search.