What in-house counsel can do
In-house counsel can make the difference. If they don’t think the President should retaliate against a law firm because he doesn’t like the law firm’s clients, there’s something they can do. Law firms are worried. Some are fighting.1 Some are capitulating.2
Law firms should fight the Trump administration whether or not their advocacy will cost them clients. But for some, the calculation will depend on how many clients they might lose. In-house counsel can influence that calculation by hiring law firms that value the rule of law over expedient and unprincipled settlement.3 If they agree with those who argue that a president cannot rescind birthright citizenship,4 obliterate entire agencies,5 freeze federal funding,6 or disappear people without a hearing,7 among many other things, then they can hire the people who are making those arguments.
If clients start dropping firms that protect themselves and others from the Trump administration, some lawyers will change their conduct accordingly, and not for the better.8 But the President’s intimidation campaign will not silence law firms if their clients continue to support them.
In-house counsel can go even further. They can ask law firms to demonstrate their commitment to democracy in pitches and RFP responses. They could ask what law firms have done, in the last twelve months to:
- Protect voting rights
- Prevent election subversion
- Defend free speech
- Uphold the rule of law
Many companies already ask their outside counsel to meet diversity requirements and discuss the firm’s commitment to diversity.9 If companies asked firms to discuss their commitment to democracy in pitches and RFP responses, that request would go a long way. One reason, among others, that big law firms had DEI programs is that they believed clients wanted them. In-house counsel are already gauging whether prospective counsel are a match for the company’s values. If in-house counsel ask for democracy, law firms will give it to them.
https://www.npr.org/2025/03/12/g-s1-53422/judge-blocks-trump-law-firm.
https://www.reuters.com/legal/trumps-deal-with-law-firm-paul-weiss-sparks-alarm-among-lawyers-2025-03-21.
Update on March 30, 2025: More than 100 general counsel expressed support for law firms that stand with Perkins Coie in an open letter. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TFJFmnO_LIVN1sK8lsuG48oNjZ919c3BeA8rT1D6YoQ/edit?pli=1&tab=t.0. This is a welcome and needed expression of support.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-birthright-citizenship-ruling-boston-3e442a97de8398dc4faf691857ea48ea.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/03/20/us/trump-education-news.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-blocked-imposing-sweeping-federal-funding-freeze-2025-02-25.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/21/us/politics/trump-deportations-alien-enemies-act-block.html.
Like when Don Draper fired Sal because that’s what his client, Lucky Strike, wanted. Don’t be Lucky Strike.
https://www.legal.io/articles/5450963/The-Imperative-for-Law-Firms-to-Embrace-Diversity-A-Call-to-Action-from-In-House-Counsel.
https://www.logikcull.com/blog/how-in-house-teams-are-holding-law-firms-accountable-on-diversity-and-inclusion;
https://mcca.com/mcca-article/words-into-action;
https://www.law.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Dev-Why-Diversity-Matters-Article.pdf.