California Attorney General Hammers Paul Weiss Over Trump Deal

California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) singled out Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP in an exclusive roundtable interview in San Francisco Tuesday for agreeing to do free legal work in line with the Trump administration’s goals.

Bonta and Connecticut Attorney General William Tong (D) called out Paul Weiss and the eight other Big Law firms that struck deals with Trump for setting a concessionary tone in being the first firm to strike a deal with the administration in March last year.

“It was weak, it was cowardly, it was craven for Paul Weiss to do it at the beginning and sort of send a signal to the other firms that this is what we’re doing,” Bonta said. “We’re doing deals, we’re caving, we’re bending the knee.”

Tong, who’s also involved in the coalition of Democratic states suing the administration, said that the string of law firms that have caved to pressure from the administration is a “betrayal of the legal system.”

Bonta, who oversees the largest state attorney general office in the country and is leading the charge in dozens of lawsuits challenging Trump policies, said that his office hasn’t needed to contract with outside law firms for work on its over 50 lawsuits against the Trump administration. He received $25 million last year from the California legislature to combat Trump through litigation.

“We have the luxury of being able to do the work ourselves, because we’re so well resourced and so large,” he said.

Paul Weiss was the first of nine Big Law firms to reach a deal with the administration in order to escape the administration’s targeted executive orders.

The White House said the firm agreed to dedicate $40 million in pro bono legal services to “fairness in the justice system,” combating antisemitism, support for veterans, and other agreed upon objectives, in addition to abandoning diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. The firm faced an executive order stripping its security clearances and threatening to terminate client contracts.

A spokesperson for Paul Weiss didn’t immediately return a request for comment about Bonta’s statements.

Bonta, who started his legal career at the San Francisco law firm Keker Van Nest & Peters LLP, applauded the group for being one of the most outspoken firms against the administration.