Performative Self-Gelding at $6.54 Million a Year
It's always the ones you most expect
If there’s been one consistent pattern over the past eight years, it’s this: those with the most resources to protect themselves, the most capable of putting up some sort of fight, are the first to capitulate. With “so much to lose,” they fail to see the strength they have. This is a normal human psychological phenomenon: we overdetermine risk and underestimate the possibility of things working out.
The latest example of this performative self-gelding is Paul Weiss, a Biglaw firm that has just offered its spine to Donald Trump. Two weeks ago, I wrote a piece about what happens when an authoritarian comes for the lawyers, and I asked our profession to stand up to this shit.
I am happy to report that Perkins Coie (with the aid of Williams & Connolly) has stood up to a blatantly unconstitutional executive order. Judge Beryl Howell found the government’s argument unconvincing and ordered temporary injunctive relief for the firm. On Friday, the DOJ moved to remove Judge Howell from the matter because…reasons. This is the second time this week the DOJ has asked to have a federal judge removed from a case simply for ruling against the government. Sorry: for showing insufficient personal deference to the President.
I am less thrilled to report that Paul Weiss, when faced with a similar executive order as Perkins Coie, took a different approach. There are many sound, reasoned things I have to say about this, but let me begin with this:
These motherfuckers.
Paul Weiss is was one of the finest firms in New York, a firm known for being hard-nosed and very good. They are hardly a helpless mark. And yet, when faced with a choice between standing up for itself—and, by extension, all other lawyers—and trying to preserve the firm’s nice, fat PPP of $6.54 million (meaning the average pay of an equity partner was $6.5 million dollars, and further meaning that half the partners made more than that) these venal assholes chose what they thought to be the safe route: base capitulation.
These are some of the wealthiest, most connected, and powerful attorneys in the world. The firm has partners that have served high up in the government, who represent some of the largest companies in the world. The firm is built to fight. And the craven calculation was “maybe if we are nice to the Orange One, he’ll leave us alone.”
You dumb bastards. Now he knows he owns you, and if you think $40 million in a slush money pro bono fund will hold him at bay….
Further, what person or company in their right might would hire Paul Weiss now? When it faced a tough moment, it folded; why the hell would it stand up for you?
It’s always the ones you most expect. I worked in Biglaw for a spell. I found myself surrounded by brilliant people who were ethically weak. Good enough people, but without conviction. Money makes you soft and access to power compromises your judgment.
I am not surprised at all by Paul Weiss’s pathetic deal, though I am disappointed. Attorneys have ethical duties—to the courts, to our clients, and to the country. Some of us take that seriously. While Brad Karp, the managing partner of Paul Weiss, chose appeasement in the face of power, others have shown great courage and ethical backbone.
I want to highlight a (now former) associate at Skadden Arps, Rachel Cohen, whose stand makes Brad Karp look like the little man that he is. For weeks, Ms. Cohen has been helping organize associates of AmLaw 200 firms to stand against the unconstitutional and unchecked aggression of the administration. On Thursday night, upon learning of Paul Weiss’s groveling before Trump, Ms. Cohen emailed firm management. She tendered provisional resignation, which she offered to rescind if Skadden signed the amicus brief in the Perkins Coie case, affirmed that it would take clients irrespective of political considerations, took a firm stance against the administration’s EEOC bullshit, etc.
Ms. Cohen lost access to her email on Friday, most likely because the firm accepted her resignation.
It’s always the ones you most expect.
As I mentioned in my last piece, lawyers tend to have much to lose. We’re risk averse by nature. I never expected Biglaw to be our saviors here. They’re too beholden to the money. God forbid Brad Karp couldn’t get another house in the Hamptons. We couldn’t possibly ask him and his partners to sacrifice that much!
The administration is picking off firms one by one. A united bar would be harder to break. And what could be more uniting than defending the independence of our profession, ensuring citizens have access to counsel, and preserving due process itself?
That’s the whole game.
On one side: those calling for the impeachment of judges who rule against the President. On the other: firms like Paul Weiss, shouting, “Thank you sir! May I have another!” as the belt draws blood.