by
Win
McNamee/Getty
Images)
Mere
hours
after
the
Trump
administration
lodged
a
retaliatory
executive
order
against
WilmerHale,
the
firm
has
struck
back
with
a
lawsuit
filed
by
conservative
superlawyer
Paul
Clement.
Welcome
to
the
#resistance,
man.
It’s
been
a
wild
24
hours
for
Biglaw
with
Skadden
reportedly
trying
to
snivel
its
way
out
of
Trump’s
ire
and
Jenner
&
Block
suing
the
administration.
Now
WilmerHale
is
taking
the
latter
route.
After
a
week
of
trying
to
sort
out
the
impact
of
the
Paul
Weiss
capitulation
and
the
Skadden
story
hinting
that
the
industry
might
be
trending
toward
retreat,
this
morning
a
couple
firms
declared
a
day
may
come
when
the
courage
of
Biglaw
fails,
but
it
is
not
this
day.
The
complaint
provides
some
lawyerly
humor
in
calling
out
the
unlawful
retaliatory
purpose
behind
the
order
too:
While
most
litigation
requires
discovery
to
unearth
retaliatory
motive,
the
Order
makes
no
secret
of
its
intent
to
punish
WilmerHale
for
its
past
and
current
representations
of
clients
before
the
Nation’s
courts
and
for
its
perceived
connection
to
the
views
that
Mr.
Mueller
expressed
as
Special
Counsel.
Well,
you
don’t
want
to
get
into
heavy
discovery
with
this
guy…
you
don’t
want
your
sensitive
materials
to
end
up
stacked
in
his
toilet.
When
Clement
wrote
his
report
blessing
the
DOJ’s
decision
to
let
Eric
Adams
skate,
it
seemed
as
though
he
cynically
tried
to
split
the
baby
by
comically
handwaving
public
indications
of
a
corrupt
quid
pro
quo
but
balking
the
administration’s
bid
to
dismiss
charges
without
prejudice.
At
the
time,
it
felt
as
though
he
wanted
to
balance
maintaining
his
conservative
legal
movement
bona
fides
with
his
being
actually
smart
and
knowing
that
this
was
a
bogus
deal.
Whether
we
were
right
or
wrong
about
that
speculation
in
the
moment,
Clement
seems
uninterested
in
avoiding
the
Trump
administration’s
ire
right
now.
Trump’s
Biglaw
assault
is
all
about
retaliatory
strikes
against
lawyers
for
showing
up
on
the
other
side
of
the
“v”
from
him
and
this
is
a
very
public
line
crossing.
Here’s
the
complaint:
Earlier:
WilmerHale
Becomes
The
Latest
Firm
Targeted
By
Trump
Eric
Adams
Gets
Helpful
Assist
From
Paul
Clement
Joe
Patrice is
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editor
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Above
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Law
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Like
A
Lawyer.
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