The head of an elite New York law firm that cut Trump's highly criticised deal last week claimed on Sunday that he had agreed because it's unlikely that the company would not survive the prolonged legal battle with the Trump administration.
Paul's managing partner, Paul's Brad Carp, said in an email to his lawyer he was ready to fight an executive order that signed Trump essentially crippled the company's ability to represent his clients.
However, the company's clients were deeply concerned that even if Paul and Weiss win the courtroom, they would be labeled “persona non-grata with the administration,” Carp said. He said it would potentially encourage clients to rival their business, and make Paul, Weiss go down.
The second email that Culp sent to his company in four days showed he was trying to explain the deal – internally and externally from his decision to strike an agreement with Trump.
Karp's company, particularly the litigators, had pushed judges to fight the orders in court, claiming that they would quickly block Trump's executive orders. However, members of corporate practices, which are a key part of the company's revenue, insisted that Karp enter into a contract to prevent clients from fleeing.
A prominent Democratic donor, Carp used the legal community against Trump during his first term, working to elect Democrats' enemy Kamala Harris in past election cycles. Critics have made $2.63 billion in revenue last year and are sharply criticising Calp and the company, representing corporate clients like Exxon Mobile and Apollo Global Management.
However, Karp said in an email that even if a judge blocks Trump's orders, the company's clients are scared that they are perceived as being on the wrong side of the Trump administration.
Karp's arguments highlight the power and effectiveness of Trump's efforts to target law firms with executive orders for the past month, indicating that even the courts cannot stop the president from potentially ousting businesses out of the company unless the president comes down to the demands of his administration.
“We initially prepared to challenge the executive order in court, and Paul's team, Weiss' lawyers, filed a lawsuit in the company's finest tradition,” Carp said in an email. “However, it became clear that the initial success in banning an executive order in a lawsuit would not resolve the underlying issue. This means that our clients knew we were not the persona of the administration.”
Karp said the company was able to stop the order from coming into effect, but “we couldn't erase it.”
“Clients were telling us that they wouldn't be able to be with us, even if they wanted,” Carp said in an email. “It's very likely that our company will not survive a prolonged conflict with the administration.”
Officially known as Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, the company has offices all over the world. The work includes mergers and acquisitions, private equity, white collar work, regulatory defense and litigation. Its clients include Citigroup, Imagine Entertainment and Lucasfilm.
A week ago, Trump signed an executive order that essentially prevented Weiss' lawyers from entering federal buildings and dealing with the government. The order also said businesses doing business with Paul could lose government contracts.
Last Wednesday, Carp met with Trump in his oval office, and on Thursday, the president announced that Paul and Weiss would commit to representing his clients regardless of political views, and that he would commit $40 million in pro bono legal work, including fighting antipathy and supporting veterans.
After the contract was announced on Thursday, Carp was widely criticized for surrendering to Trump and making other companies vulnerable.
Karp said in an email that the transaction was “clearly clear to the client's greatest profits.” He said thousands of company clients responded to the relief to the resolution of this situation and the fact that our company is now eager and constructively linked to this administration, as the president has publicly admitted.
“Even those who expressed their personal disappointment that we didn't fight the administration have absolutely high praise for our crisis for our law firm and say they respect our decision,” Carp said in his email.
