Trump’s Big Law Fury Shows Additional Firms Are Target Risks

As President Donald Trump targets a handful of Big Law firms for fronting actions he considers unfair, he’s got the whole industry wondering: Who’s next?

Trump issued directives against Covington & Burling, Perkins Coie, and Paul Weiss in the last three weeks. Those are not the only firms with ties to investigations against the former president or which have gone up against him in court.

“This list of three can easily grow to 23,” said Peter Mirijanian, a Washington, D.C.-based public relations consultant, “because there will be other firms that are representing interests that are adverse to the Trump administration.”

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission opened a new front in Trump’s fight with Big Law March 17, highlighting the broad risks facing firms. The agency sent letters to 20 large firms, including Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, Ropes & Gray, and Simpson Thacher, launching investigations for possible discrimination in their diversity programs.

Trump three days earlier issued an executive order against Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison that stripped the Wall Street firm of security clearances and threatened to cancel government contracts held by its clients, while ordering agency heads to restrict its lawyers’ access to federal government buildings. The order referenced Mark Pomerantz, a former firm partner who led a Manhattan district attorney’s investigation that resulted in convictions against Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records.

Trump’s March 6 executive order targeting Pekins Coie was similar to the one issued against Paul Weiss. It mentioned that Perkins Coie in 2016, while working for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, “hired Fusion GPS, which then manufactured a false ‘dossier’ designed to steal an election.” Trump also noted the firm’s work on a bevy of elections cases.

Trump’s Feb. 25 memo against Covington targeted partner Peter Koski, citing his relationship with former special counsel Jack Smith, who brought two criminal cases against the president.

Here are other firms at risk of drawing Trump’s attention.

WilmerHale

Former special counsel Robert Mueller, who led a probe into the 2016 Trump campaign’s alleged coordination with Russian state officials, practiced at WilmerHale until 2021.

Firm webpages archived as late as Nov. 5, 2024, show Mueller’s affiliation as a “retired partner.” WilmerHale has since updated the web page to state: “Robert S. Mueller III is no longer with our firm.” WilmerHale didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The firm steered several election suits for Democrats in the run up to last year’s election. WilmerHale lawyers also are suing the Trump administration to challenge some of the president’s actions after retaking the White House.

Former Solicitor General Seth Waxman and ex-deputy attorney general David Ogden, both firm partners, filed a complaint in February on behalf of eight inspectors general of federal agencies who were terminated as part of the White House’s wide-ranging purge of federal employees.

Jenner & Block

The Chicago-founded firm has deep ties to Democrats among its current and former lawyers. Trump called Andrew Weissmann, the former Jenner & Block partner who aided in the Mueller probe, “scum” in a March 14 speech at the Justice Department.

Weissmann rejoined Jenner & Block in 2020 after leading the prosecution against Paul Manafort, the former campaign chairman for Trump’s first presidential run. Manafort was sentenced to nearly eight years in prison for money laundering, illegal lobbying, and bank and tax fraud. Weissmann later decamped for an in-house job at Ronald Perelman’s MacAndrews & Forbes.

Jenner & Block and Weissmann didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Foley & Lardner

Foley & Lardner announced in 2021 it was declining to work on any cases that challenged the results of the 2020 presidential election, which Trump insisted was stolen from him.

The firm is the former home of Cleta Mitchell, who left after Foley said it was investigating her role in a phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. In that call, Trump asked Raffensperger to “find” additional Georgia votes.

Foley & Lardner didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher

Barry Berke, the top lawyer for one of Trump’s impeachment probes, joined Gibson Dunn in October 2024. Berke serves as co-chair of the firm’s litigation group.

The elite law firm is home to lawyers from all ends of the political spectrum, including former Trump Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia.

Gibson Dunn is representing parties in two lawsuits against the Trump administration challenging its immigration and refugee policies. The firm didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Elias Law Group

Marc Elias, who Trump also lashed out at during the Justice Department speech, ran Perkins Coie’s political practice group before leaving to launch his elections law boutique in 2021. Elias was also tapped as outside counsel to the Harris-Walz 2024 presidential campaign.

While at Perkins Coie, Elias retained Washington firm Fusion GPS to conduct the opposition research against Trump. It resulted in the Steele dossier, which alleged coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian state officials.

Elias Law Group didn’t respond to a request for comment. Elias said he won’t “back down” in a March 14 social media post on Bluesky.

Hecker Fink

Joshua Matz, a partner at the boutique litigation shop, was counsel for the House Judiciary Committee in its first impeachment attempt against Trump. He also worked on the committee’s inquiries into the Jan. 6 riot at the US Capitol. Matz was part of a team, led by New York litigator Roberta Kaplan, that represented advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in sexual assault and defamation lawsuits against Trump.

Matz more recently represented special counsel Hampton Dellinger in his lawsuit against the Trump administration over Dellinger’s firing. The firm and Matz didn’t respond to a request for comment.