After making deals with the president to avoid punitive executive orders, Paul Weiss and Kirkland & Ellis are helping the Commerce Department.

By Michael S. SchmidtMatthew Goldstein and Maggie Haberman

Aug. 20, 2025

At least two large law firms that struck deals with President Trump to avoid punitive executive orders have committed to doing free legal work for the Commerce Department, according to two people briefed on the matter.

The firms — Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and Kirkland & Ellis — are working on a range of matters for the Commerce Department, according to one of the people briefed on the matter.

The firms either declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment. The New York Times reported last week that Kirkland & Ellis and another firm that had settled with Mr. Trump, Skadden Arps, had been connected with the Commerce Department about working on trade deals for the government, but that it was unclear whether they were being paid or working for free as part of the arrangements they had struck with the president.

For Paul Weiss, the arrangement is a dramatic turn from where it stood during Mr. Trump’s first administration, when it prided itself on fighting him in court. The firm has also had a long history of fund-raising for Democratic candidates.

Despite having stood up in the past to the government on issues like civil rights, Paul Weiss became the first firm to strike a deal with the administration to head off a potentially crippling executive order issued by Mr. Trump in March. That deal became something of a template for other firms to follow.

In the past, some law firms have done work for the federal government at a reduced rate. But coming just months after they struck deals with the president, the free work is likely to raise new questions about whether the firms felt compelled to do so to stay in Mr. Trump’s good graces.

Kirkland and Skadden Arps were connected to the Commerce Department through Boris Epshteyn, a personal lawyer for the president who took the lead for Mr. Trump in cutting the deals with the law firms, according people familiar with the events.

In the first several months of the administration, nine firms reached deals with the president to head off executive orders signed by Mr. Trump that would make it nearly impossible for them to represent their clients.

As part of the deals, the firms committed to performing nearly $1 billion in pro bono legal work for causes Mr. Trump has championed, like helping veterans and combating antisemitism. It was not initially clear exactly what the firms would do.

Editors’ Picks

How to Do a Perfect Smoky Eye

Anticipating Taylor Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl’

Complete Your Squat. The Internet Is Watching.

But as the deals were being reached, Mr. Trump told reporters that he thought the pro bono work could be used toward his administration’s trade deals and even representing him in a personal capacity.

The deals were widely criticized in the legal community as unconstitutional, unethical and undemocratic. The four firms that chose to fight the administration’s executive orders in court have all won sweeping legal victories.

Pro bono legal work traditionally has involved work for the indigent or groups seeking to defend a threatened constitutional right. After Mr. Trump’s crackdown on the legal profession, some big firms — even some that did not settle with the administration — have chosen to avoid high-profile pro bono cases out of fear of angering the president.

The Commerce Department is not only taking an active role in trade and tariff negotiations but also discussing taking equity stakes in some U.S. companies like the chip maker Intel.

In a statement, the department said it and its secretary, Howard Lutnick, “are working with some of America’s top law firms and legal minds to cement the truly historic trade deals that President Trump negotiated for the American people.”

The department added, “This partnership is helping unlock unprecedented foreign market access for American exports, and our workers, farmers and industries will be the biggest beneficiaries in the years to come.”

Michael S. Schmidt is an investigative reporter for The Times covering Washington. His work focuses on tracking and explaining high-profile federal investigations.

Matthew Goldstein is a Times reporter who covers Wall Street and white-collar crime and housing issues.

Maggie Haberman is a White House correspondent for The Times, reporting on President Trump.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5764465&forum_id=2Vannesa#49199681)

This is a good sign, if this same article were out in 2017 you bet your ass they’d comment. NYT respect is almost totally gone.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5764465&forum_id=2Vannesa#49199690)

this is insane. these people have completely lost it

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5764465&forum_id=2Vannesa#49199814)