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(CNN) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a deal with the law firm that employs former second gentleman Doug Emhoff, which the president said includes the firm, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, agreeing to provide at least $100 million in pro bono legal services throughout his second term.
It’s the third example of high-profile firms cutting deals with the White House as Trump has targeted firms that have done work with his perceived political enemies.
Willkie’s pro bono work in recent years has been especially attention-grabbing because it included a defamation win against Rudy Giuliani following his work for Trump after the 2020 election.
The firm represented two Georgia election workers Giuliani defamed by falsely claiming they switched votes against Trump while ballot counting. The free legal work the firm provided for the women amounted to tens of millions of dollars. After the firm chased Giuliani for a year to give up all his valuable property to compensate the women, Giuliani and the women reached an undisclosed settlement.
Emhoff, the husband of former Vice President Kamala Harris, told Willkie’s leadership he disagreed with their decision to seek a deal with the Trump administration, a person familiar with matter told CNN, telling the law firm they should fight this.
Tuesday afternoon, before the agreement was announced, Emhoff participated in an event at Georgetown Law School in his personal capacity where he addressed the matter.
“The rule of law is under attack. Democracy is under attack. And so, all of us lawyers need to do what we can to push back on that,” Emhoff told the students, the person familiar with the matter said. “Us lawyers have always been on the frontlines, fighting for civil rights, for justice. … I love being a lawyer, this is what we do: We fight for people. We fight for what’s right.”
The firm brought Emhoff on board in January as a partner, saying he works out of both Los Angeles and New York and will focus on advising corporations and others especially in “matters with significant reputational concerns.” Law firms Emhoff previously worked at before Harris became vice president haven’t yet been caught in the crosshairs of Trump’s recent rash of deals with and policies against large American law firms.
Trump said Tuesday the pro bono services would go toward services that he and Willkie support — assisting veterans, members of the military, Gold Star families, law enforcement and other public servants, combatting antisemitism and more broadly, “ensuring fairness” in the United States justice system, according to Trump’s post on Truth Social. The president also said Willkie has affirmed its commitment to “merit-based” hiring by not engaging in diversity, equity and inclusion measures and not discriminating against job candidates based on their political beliefs.
“Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP proactively reached out to President Trump and his Administration, offering their decisive commitment to ending the Weaponization of the Justice System and the Legal Profession,” according to a statement from the White House included in Trump’s Truth Social post.
In a statement Tuesday, firm chairmen Thomas M. Cerabino and Matthew A. Feldman said the agreement “addresses a $100 million pro bono commitment, access to legal representation to clients across a wide spectrum of viewpoints, and ensuring continued compliance with the law as it relates to our employment practices.”
“The substance of this agreement is consistent with our Firm’s longstanding practices,” the statement said. “The Firm remains committed to serving the needs of our clients, our employees, and the communities of which we are a part.”
Trump made a similar agreement with the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom last week. This comes as Trump has targeted law firms with executive actions limiting their ability to do business with the federal government, including Jenner & Block and WilmerHale, which both have ties to former special counsel Robert Mueller. Those two firms have sued the administration to challenge Trump executive orders targeting them and their clients. The firms accused the government of using unconstitutional executive orders to punish or chill speech it doesn’t like.
The-CNN-Wire
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