WASHINGTON (Reuters) – More large law firms are in talks with the White House to reach agreements to avert restrictions on their businesses by promising to do pro bono work that President Donald Trump supports, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. Latham & Watkins, Simpson Thacher, Kirkland & […]
Politics
Law firms Latham & Watkins, Simpson Thacher near deals with White House, WSJ reports
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – More large law firms are in talks with the White House to reach agreements to avert restrictions on their businesses by promising to do pro bono work that President Donald Trump supports, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Latham & Watkins, Simpson Thacher, Kirkland & Ellis and A&O Shearman are among the firms nearing such deals with the Trump administration, the newspaper reported. The firms had no immediate comment.
Some firms were asked if they would contribute to a fund for people alleging they were harmed by diversity, equity and inclusion practices, but they resisted, according to the newspaper.
Trump has targeted several firms with executive orders. Those firms have represented Trump’s political adversaries or clients bringing legal challenges to his policies, or employed attorneys who took part in past government investigations aimed at the president.
The executive orders have sought to restrict their lawyers from accessing government buildings and officials and threatened to cancel federal contracts held by their clients. (This story has been refiled to correct the description of the entities to ‘firms,’ not ‘companies,’ in paragraph 2)
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Ross Colvin and Stephen Coates)