Top Trump Lobbyist Defends Big Law White House Deals as ‘Smart’

Law firms that struck deals with the Trump White House will benefit from them, despite criticism the accords face, said a GOP lobbyist who helped reach two of the agreements.

Brian Ballard, founder and president of lobbying firm Ballard Partners, “successfully” represented Kirkland & Ellis and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in resolving investigations by the Trump administration into the firms’ diversity, equity, and inclusion hiring practices, Ballard said during a Bloomberg Government roundtable on Wednesday.

“If you are in the business in Washington, DC, of working for clients that have issues before the government, it’s better to be someone who can work with the government than someone who just says screw you,” Ballard said. “I think it’s pretty smart for those guys to have done what they’ve done—the guys we represented and others.”

Ballard’s comments are a rare full-throated defense of firms that pledged $940 million in free legal services to President Donald Trump. The firms since have faced a backlash in the legal community and among Democratic lawmakers, who say the agreements reached by Kirkland, Simpson, and seven others are tantamount to a quid pro quo.

The firms’ deals in March and April freed them from probes by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and removed the threat of executive orders that would revoke lawyer security clearances, restrict access to federal buildings and threaten clients’ government contracts. The White House targeted the firms over perceived past wrongs, such as what it called “weaponization” of the legal system and “illegal DEI discrimination.”

Kirkland and Simpson Thacher wanted to get on with their government-facing business without the stink of a federal probe into their hiring practices, Ballard said. The firms also “agreed that the DEI stuff had gone too far,” he said, adding that he was speaking for himself, not his clients.

“It always makes sense to try to resolve things,” Ballard said. “This administration wants to resolve things. They’re looking to address the issues that they’ve raised, but they’re not looking for battles. They’re looking for more friends than enemies.”

Kirkland and Simpson didn’t return requests for comment.

Trade Deals

Brian Ballard’s involvement in GOP politics in DC and Florida runs deep. He chaired the Florida finance committee for three Republican presidential nominees—John McCain, Mitt Romney, and Trump in 2016. He opened the the Florida-founded lobbying firm’s Washington, DC office in 2017. His past colleagues at Ballard included Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.

For the nine firms who reached deals, coming to an agreement with the Trump White House “helps them get other business,” Ballard said. Besides Kirkland and Simpson, the deal-reaching firms include Latham & Watkins, Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Milbank; Willkie Farr & Gallagher; A&O Shearman; and Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft.

Since their agreements, Kirkland has worked on trade deals for the US government, Ballard confirmed. The New York Times previously reported Kirkland did trade work for the US government’s negotiations with Japan and South Korea.

Four law firms sued the Trump administration over executive orders. Those firms—Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, WilmerHale, and Susman Godfrey—won court injunctions against the implementation of the directives at the trial level. Lawyers at the Department of Justice have appealed the rulings.

“Some of these law firms like the idea of having an enemy,” Ballard said of the firms that chose to fight Trump. “Either for business reasons or political reasons, that’s why they do it.”

Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, WilmerHale, and Susman Godfrey didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Free Services

Law firms have been hesitant to elaborate on what free legal work they will provide to the White House.

Cadwalader’s litigation co-chair, Nicholas Gravante, told Bloomberg Law in an interview in May said that he planned to contact Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez to offer legal support in upholding criminal convictions—a proposed avenue for meeting the pro-law enforcement category of free legal services pledged by the firm.

Patrick Quinn, Cadwalader’s managing partner, since then has walked back Gravante’s comments, according to two people familiar with Quinn’s internal firm communications. Quinn said Gravante’s plan hadn’t been cleared by the firm’s pro bono committee, according to the people, who requested anonymity to discuss internal firm communications. Gravante in the interview said he hadn’t consulted the Brooklyn DA’s office or the White House before floating the idea.

Cadwalader didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Sam Spital, associate director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, said it’s “very concerning” for a president to direct the pro bono activity of any private sector lawyer or firm.

“There may be people who are very deserving among the people who the administration thinks need pro bono services,” Spital said. “But it is very dangerous for the federal government to be in a position to direct or channel law firms in what cases or communities or clients they work on.”