Money Grab/Give government contracts to family and donors
Nine major law firms pledge nearly $1B in free work to Trump administration
— Nine major law firms pledge nearly $1B in free work to Trump administration.
By September 2025, nine of the country’s largest law firms had reached settlements pledging $940 million in pro bono legal services to causes favored by the Trump administration. The firms had been threatened with executive orders that would have barred them from federal work. There are no written contracts.
What happened
In March 2025 Trump began issuing executive orders against large law firms that had represented his opponents or employed prosecutors who had investigated him. The orders stripped security clearances, barred lawyers from federal buildings and threatened the firms’ clients’ government contracts. Other firms were told they could be next.
Paul Weiss settled first on March 20, 2025, pledging $40 million in free legal work. Skadden, Willkie Farr, Milbank and Cadwalader followed at $100 million each, and on April 11 Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, Simpson Thacher and A&O Shearman at $125 million each: $940 million in total, for causes “the President and the law firms both support,” plus commitments on hiring practices. Trump announced each deal on Truth Social and later suggested the firms might help negotiate trade deals.
Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, WilmerHale and Susman Godfrey refused, sued, and won court orders blocking the executive orders against them as unconstitutional. Congressional Democrats wrote to the nine settling firms questioning whether the arrangements were lawful; eight of nine defended them. There are no written contracts.
Who benefited
The administration obtained $940 million in legal labor for causes of its choosing without appropriation, contract or competition. Which causes, and which firms serve them, has never been set out publicly.
Who wanted something
Each of the nine firms faced an executive order, issued or threatened, that would have cost it clearances, access and clients. They paid in free legal services, from $40 million to $125 million each, to make the threat go away, and most told Congress the deals were lawful and voluntary.
Who lost out
The firms that paid, and the clients and causes their pro bono hours would otherwise have served, bear the $940 million. The executive branch obtained services worth nearly $1 billion by pressure on private companies, outside any process Congress authorized, while the four firms that fought won in court.
Why it matters
The executive branch used the threat of punishment to extract $940 million in services from private firms and directed it to causes it picked. The courts that heard the orders called them unconstitutional. The firms that settled got no such ruling. They got a Truth Social post.
Sources The Well NewsThe New York Times (via Hawaii Tribune-Herald)Legal FuturesBloomberg Law