Often the culture of pro bono only extends as far as lawyers, writes Jeremy Ford, ex-European Head of Marketing at Skadden and advocate of professional pro bono at Fifth Day – a charity that aims to get professionals from other areas of the legal profession involved in pro bono work.
Often the culture of pro bono only extends as far as lawyers, writes Jeremy Ford, ex-European Head of Marketing at Skadden and advocate of professional pro bono at Fifth Day – a charity that aims to get professionals from other areas of the legal profession involved in pro bono work.
District judge calls the executive order against the firm “doubly violative of the constitution” – and grants summary judgment enjoining the government action.
DC judge says the order stigmatises and penalises the firm for representing clients that have pursued claims and taken positions with which the US president disagrees – as well as the firm’s own speech.
More than 500 law firms – including Freshfields, Arnold & Porter and Fenwick & West – joined a brief in support of Perkins Coie, claiming that President Trump’s executive order against the firm violates “core First, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment guarantees, as well as bedrock separation-of-powers principles”.
The White House launches another attack on ‘Big Law’, this time citing the Chicago-based firm’s pro bono work for “destructive causes” as it withdraws security clearance and government contracts.
Paul Weiss is the third law firm to be targeted by President Trump, who accuses it of hiring an “unethical attorney” and discriminating against its own employees through its DEI policies. Trump’s executive order implied more firms may be sanctioned.
As law firms worldwide rush to bolster their ESG practices there is a risk that valuable pro bono work will fall by the wayside. By Jacquelyn MacLennan, a member of the Brussels Bar and a Scottish solicitor, a CEDR-accredited mediator and Hon. Professor at Edinburgh University Law School.
