Another Law Firm Braces for Possible Blowback From Trump

As a partner of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, the oldest law firm of Wall Street, Todd Blanche had represented people close to President Trump over the years.

But in 2023, when Mr. Trump was facing multiple criminal investigations and Mr. Blanche wanted to represent him, most of the company’s leadership opposed the idea, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Hence, Mr. Blanche left Cadwalader, hanging his legal gravel and expressing bitterness to some allies who had to do so to face Mr. Trump as a client, said one of the people.

While the loyalty of Mr. Blanche earned him a reward – Mr. Trump has appointed him deputy general prosecutor – Cadwalader is now preparing for a little compensation.

While the White House accelerates its attacks on the main law firms-imposing executive orders against some and affect agreements with other-cadwalader recently learned that it could become asserted in the vast repression of Mr. Trump, according to four people with knowledge of the discussions.

One of the Trump consultants has been in contact with the company to suggest to sign an agreement in which he would offer tens of millions of dollars in Pro Bono legal services to cause the Trump administration.

While Cadwalader was not explicitly threatened with an executive order, people said that the implicit message encouraged an agreement was clear: it reports or faced the possibility of an executive order which, however legally doubtful, could however zoppic the company’s activities.

In those discussions, the division of Mr. Blanche with the company was not mentioned as the impetus for the raising awareness and precise reasoning at the base of it remained unclear. It was also not clear if Cadwalader would have reached an agreement or faced an order and a spokesman for the company refused to comment.

Cadwalader is certainly not the only company on Mr. Trump’s radar. Kirkland & Ellis, the largest company of the Nation for Revenue, discussed Mr. Trump’s consultants, said a person with knowledge of the matter. Kirkland’s discussions were previously reported by the Wall Street Journal.

And in the last two weeks, Skadadden Arps, Willkie Farr & Gallagher and Milbank have satisfied the requests of Trump’s team, each promising to dedicate $ 100 million pro bono work to cause Trump to support and represent customers regardless of their political opinions. The offers allowed companies to avoid an executive order.

The White House is working on a series of these agreements with other companies, a person informed on the matter, it is more likely that those are announced first, even if in the end Cadwalader accepts. Some companies may be announced together.

A spokesman for the Department of Justice refused to comment. The press secretary of the White House, Karoline Leavitt, said only: “President Trump and his team are determined to end the weapon of the” great law “against Americans for their political beliefs”.

Trump has affected other companies with executive orders that have jeopardized their ability to represent the government contractors and limit access to federal buildings. One of those companies, Paul Weiss, has made an agreement with Mr. Trump. Three others decided to fight in court, where the federal judges have largely blocked orders to come into force for now.

While some companies supported Trump’s political opponents, they worked with the ministries who investigated him or hired lawyers who criticized the president, Cadwalader is not part of these categories. However, the complaint of Mr. Trump speaks that some great law firms were, for four years, reluctant to support polarized conservative customers – in this case, Mr. Trump himself.

The lawyers who worked on the Trump legal team when he was candidate or who represented some of his numerous consultants swept away by various investigations, almost uniformly affirm that they have become unjustly paria in the legal and commercial communities for their connections with Mr. Trump. The great law firms, they said, feared reprisals from the Democrats or that the customers would go if they had worked with Mr. Trump.

But those decisions were made by companies, not from the White House that used the presidential power to enforce these measures.

And the officials of many important companies said they did not want to hire Mr. Trump as a client because for years, even during his first presidency, but also well before, he refused to follow any type of conventional legal advice. Many of these customers of these companies have considered the behavior of Mr. Trump who brought to the attack on the Capitol by a crowd of his supporters on January 6, 2021, as a real threat to democracy.

Given the history of Mr. Trump of rigid companies who worked for him, many high officials of the main companies were also worried that they would not be paid for their work.

Although he did not take Mr. Trump as a client, Cadwalader had not previously avoided representing his helpers and allies.

The company has represented several commercial members of Trump, including Allen H. Weisselberg, the long -standing chief financial officer of the Trump family company. And when Mr. Blanche was at the company, Paul Manafort defended, who was the president of the 2016 campaign of Mr. Trump. Blanche also represented Boris Epshteyn, a Trump’s external legal consultant who remained a powerful figure with the president.

Weisselberg declared himself guilty in a case of financial fraud and served a brief prison sentence. Blanche successfully obtained a case based in New York against Mr. Manafort. Mr. Epshteyn was not among the people accused in the investigations in which Mr. Blanche represented him.

Mr. Epshteyn has been closely involved in the efforts of Mr. Trump to tighten his grip on a large number of companies. And although it is not clear who in the orbit of Mr. Trump has started the recent contact with Cadwalader, Epshteyn has been involved in such discussions, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Epshteyn, who supervised the legal team that manages the various causes and criminal cases of Trump in the last four years, has helped to bring Blanche as the main lawyer for Mr. Trump.

In the criminal case of New York in which Mr. Blanche defended Mr. Trump, the jury eventually condemned Mr. Trump to falsify the company registers to hide a sexual scandal. But under a strategy on which Epshteyn and Blanche worked with the rest of the team, Trump’s sentence in that case was postponed after being elected president in November.

Ten days before Mr. Trump came in charge again in January, the judge in case granted him an unconditional discharge, which was actually not a sentence at all.

Devlin Barrett AND Matthew Goldstein Contributed relationships. Susan C. Beachy Research contribution.