Perkins Coie Firing Shows Hazard of Political Speech for Lawyers

Perkins Coie’s firing of a lawyer for a social media post appearing to criticize conservative activist Charlie Kirk after his killing sends a message to law firm professionals—they post about political issues on social media at their own risk.

“We’re entering dangerous territory,” said Katherine Loanzon, a managing director at search firm Kinney Recruiting. “This is where everyone needs to take a step back and put things into perspective and not react immediately.”

Perkins Coie likely would have fired the lawyer even without the added political pressure from President Donald Trump, said David Neff, a former bankruptcy partner at the firm who retired late last year. But Perkins Coie, and others that Trump has targeted or made deals with, are “especially sensitive” to politically-charged comments, he said.

The Seattle-headquartered law firm confirmed the lawyer’s termination in a statement over the weekend, stating that it was aware of comments posted on social media by the lawyer. “These comments do not reflect the views of our firm,” Perkins Coie said, “and the individual’s conduct in posting them fell far short of the expectations we have of everyone who works here.”

Kirk, 31, was an executive director of Turning Point USA and a close ally of Trump. He was gunned down while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University.

Perkins Coie was the first of four law firms to sue Trump after being hit with executive orders against them, which limited lawyers’ access to federal buildings, revoked their security clearances, and threatened their clients’ government contracts.

“I don’t think Perkins Coie is looking to make any more animus with the Trump administration,” Neff said. “The management of these firms is going to be sensitive to the publicity related to the doxxing that’s going on.”

Neff added that the firing “is going to chill the speech of their attorneys and support staff that is not supportive of Charlie Kirk.”

With the clarity of hindsight, Leslie Levin, a professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law, said law firm leaders should refrain from firing lawyers over their political expression.

“Just as law firms claim the importance of lawyers maintaining their independence so they can stand up for certain political issues, they shouldn’t be firing lawyers, in most cases, for expressing their political views,” Levin said.

— With reporting by Mahira Dayal