As a partner at Wickersham & Taft, Wall Street's oldest law firm, Todd Blanche has represented people close to President Trump for many years.
However, in 2023, when Trump faced multiple criminal investigations and Blanche wanted to represent him, most of the company's leadership balked the idea, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
So, Blanche left Kadwaladder, wandered around his own legal piece of iron and expressed the bitterness to some allies who had to do so to take on Trump as a client, one of the people said.
Blanche's loyalty paid him – Trump appointed him as the assistant attorney general – Kadwaladder now seeks some blows.
As the White House stepped up its attacks on major law firms, it has imposed executive orders on several and impressive deals with others – Kadwaladder recently learned that he could be caught up in Trump's widespread crackdown, according to four people with debate knowledge.
One of Trump's advisers is in touch with the company to suggest that he sign a deal that offers tens of millions of dollars of pro bono legal services to cause his administration to support him.
Cadwalader was not explicitly threatened in the executive order, but those who described the issue said the implicit message encouraging transactions was clear.
In these discussions, Blanche's split with the company was not cited as a driving force for outreach, and the exact reason behind it remained unclear. It is also unclear whether Cadwalader will eventually reach a deal or face an order, and a company spokesman declined to comment.
Kadwaladder is not the only company on Trump's radar. Kirkland & Ellis, the nation's largest company by revenue, is in talks with Trump's advisors. The Kirkland discussion was previously reported by the Wall Street Journal.
And over the past two weeks, Skadden Arps, Willkie Farr & Gallagher and Milbank have responded to the Trump team's demands. The transaction allowed businesses to avoid executive orders.
The White House has worked on many such deals with other companies, and one person said they explained the issue, but even if Cadwalader finally agrees to one, they could be announced first. Some companies may be announced together.
A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment. “President Trump and his team are determined to end the weaponization of “big laws” against Americans because of political beliefs,” White House spokesman Caroline Leavitt said.
Trump has hit other businesses with executive orders that put his ability to represent government contractors and risk his ability to limit access to federal buildings. One of those companies, Paul Weiss, has signed a deal with Trump. The other three chose to fight in court. There, federal judges have been blocking the order significantly for now.
Some companies supported Trump's political opponents, worked with prosecutors to investigate him and hired lawyers who were critical of the president, but Kadwaladar is not classified into any of those categories. But several large law firms have spoken to Trump's appeal that for four years he has been reluctant to support his conservative clients, in this case Trump himself.
Lawyers who worked on Trump's legal team when he was a candidate, or who represented some of his many advisers, have been swept through various investigations, but they almost uniformly say they have become unfairly pariahed in the legal and business community due to their connections with Trump. They said the large law firm feared that it would leave clients if they retaliated from Democrats or worked with Trump.
But these decisions are made by businesses and are not the White House, which uses the president's power to enforce those measures.
And many major corporate officials accused Trump of not only that he included his first presidency, but well before that, he refusing to follow all sorts of traditional legal advice and thus refusing to take Trump as a client. Many of these companies' other clients saw Trump's actions leading up to the attack on the Capitol by a mob of his supporters on January 6, 2021, as a real threat to democracy.
Given the history of Trump's rigid companies that worked for him, many senior officials from major companies were worried they wouldn't be paid for their work.
Despite not taking on Trump as a client, Kadwaladar had not avoided representing his entourage and allies before.
The company represented several Trump business peers, including Allen H. Weiselberg, the longtime chief financial officer of Trump's family company. And when Blanche was in the company, he defended Trump's 2016 campaign chairman, Paul Manafort. Blanche also represented Boris Epstein, an external legal counsel to Trump, who remains a powerful figure.
Weisselberg pleaded guilty to a financial fraud case and sentenced him to a short prison sentence. Blanche successfully dismissed a New York-based lawsuit against Manafort. Mr. Epstein was not among those charged in the investigation that Mr. Blanche represented.
Epshteyn is closely involved in Trump's efforts to enhance grip on numerous companies. And while it is unknown that Trump's orbit has begun recent contacts with Cadwalader, Epshteyn was involved in those debates, according to those knowledgeable about the issue.
Epstein, who oversaw the legal team that manages Trump's various lawsuits and criminal cases over the past four years, helped bring Blanche as Trump's lead lawyer.
In a New York criminal case in which Blanche defended Trump, the ju judge ultimately convicted Trump of forgerying business records to hide his sexual scandal. However, Trump's ruling was postponed in that case after he was again elected president in November under the strategies that Epshteyn and Blanche worked with the rest of the team.
Ten days before Trump re-inaugurated in January, a judge in the suit granted him unconditionally discharged from the hospital.
Devlin Barrett and Matthew Goldstein Reports of contributions. Susan C. Beach Contributed research.
