Is there any theory under which they think this is good business, as opposed to bending the knee to survive? Do they think they will get more Trumpist business, or be the lawyers who use connections with a crooked regime to help clients?
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Maybe they figure their business model with the government should mirror BMW with the Nazi regime. I mean, they are attorneys, collectively not the most moral group of people
In those cases they now have a hard conflict. Which arose the minute they signed the contract with the Admin., an adverse party. So if they had clients adverse to the Government (almost certain) in doing this they literally sold out existing clients in clear violation of RPC 1.7. Bar complaint time
While being targeted by this type of retaliation order represents a significant & possibly existential threat, I cant fathom the reasoning that led Paul Weiss to conclude that the repercussions of this “deal” would be more manageable for them. It’s akin to being held hostage & opting for suicide.
It automatically alienates half of your business just politically standing. Add to that the slime factor and humiliation... I mean, who wants a law firm that does not know how to stand up and fight?
They are operating under the assumption that Trump cannot be stopped in any meaningful way, knowing that should the Trumpist project crumble they will not be held accountable in any way.
Is it "Good Business"? Hell yes it is--in a mafia state. This won't hurt them.
My guess is Trump is holding hostage a lot of security clearances as retribution. The firm might do a lot of classified work, and if their people are not cleared, the firm loses out on a broad range of work. Just a guess.
Why did Zuck and Besos look like captives? Didn't this happen around J6 and some backbencher admitted threats? I feel there's got to be one person who will jump on the grenade already.
Yup. Trump wants a billionaire oligarchy like Russia has; In the 1990s in Putin’s Russia, the most profitable organisations were dismantled and taken over by tycoons able to take advantage of an increasingly compromised privatisation process and seize control of hugely profitable state enterprises.
Apparently they were losing clients who were scared of Trump’s threats. So maybe they thought this would save them ??? Seems to be a terrible miscalculation.
All non-Trump business gone, at least three intl offices culturally - if not actually - abandoned, not insignificant resignations, all D party bridges burned.
Only if your predictions hold true, which I doubt. D party won't stop working with them (why would they?--"on principle"?), and now they have a rep for making deals with Trump, so why not hire them if you're in trouble with the admin?
They *think* that they're safe if MAGA ever goes down, but if everyone keeps capitulating this will be "just how things work" in the new U.S. political system.
Agreed. If Trump comes at you like that, the only chance you have is fight like hell. The other option is be in his pocket forever, or as long as you’re valuable.
That is exactly the problem. D party *should* stop working with them. If the D party is only focused on how they can stay out of trouble with DJT, they get what they deserve. Fight or cave is all that is left.
Hey, they should get a lot of business brokering the privatization (aka, the oligarchization) of all those sweet, soon-to-be former public assets like land and the SS Trust Fund (once they've worked off their $40 million obligation to Trump, of course).
All my life as a white shoe lawyer's spouse, the firm Paul Weiss (Rifkind Garrison) carried serious professional weight.
It was the firm one aspired to be part of, for professional prestige, competence, and integrity.
They crumbled like a cracker. We were so wrong about everything about them.
The belief that MAGA is going to last long enough that short-term pain is worth it. They've done the math and understand that whatever they are being paid + projected future business from the relationship is worth it. Even if MAGA falters, they just say they're a law firm and were doing their job. 🤷♂️
I’d love to think this will ruin them, but it might end up being good for business in this fucked up reality we live in. All these fucking millionaires and billionaires banding together and bending the knee because they are just a bunch of greedy spineless motherfuckers…
One could theorize the law firm wants to avoid a law enforcement investigation because the firm is guilty of something pretty bad and wants to keep it secret.
Was my thought too. I mean, haven’t they seen the Tesla situation? Who signs up for that? A huge law firm full of well educated lawyers is incapable of fighting in a court of law? Or can’t do so for under whatever that price was— $40 million was it?
They’ve already paid out big for the privilege of knuckling under. Now, if they take any case Trump doesn’t like, they either risk this big payout or knuckle under AGAIN. They therefor cannot be trusted to represent clients wishes.
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1. Engage in a potentially existential fight against a president who is a vindictive asshole who tries to crush his enemies.
2. Bend the knee, suffer the humiliation, and hope the world (and Trump) moves on.
they know the law, and they know how to practice the law, and to do what their clients ask within the law
but they aren’t business people
Is it "Good Business"? Hell yes it is--in a mafia state. This won't hurt them.
I would love to see th billing for this pro bono work.
"What's this invoice for $2M?"
"That? Oh, it's for a 10 page summary judgment we filed."
Makes zero sense.
They made a calculated decision. They'll be fine.
It was the firm one aspired to be part of, for professional prestige, competence, and integrity.
They crumbled like a cracker. We were so wrong about everything about them.
MFer, you just killed the firm yourself.
The decision is bad for the firm, but the decision is also good for the individuals because they don't have to fight.
Any negative consequences for the individual are probably minimal, they'll coast for a few years collect checks before they retire.
Nah. But I worry about the clients’ privacy now.