American Oversight Sues Trump Administration for Records on Nearly $1 Billion in Pro Bono Legal Services from BigLaw

Thursday, American Oversight filed suit against the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Justice (DOJ) for failing to release records related to the Trump administration’s sweeping arrangements with nine major law firms (Paul Weiss, Skadden, Willkie Farr, Milbank, Latham & Watkins, Simpson Thacher, Kirkland & Ellis, A&O Shearman, and Cadwalader) that collectively agreed to provide nearly $1 billion in free legal services directed by the Trump administration.

The deals followed a set of unprecedented executive orders issued this spring targeting prominent law firms, part of the president’s broader campaign of retribution against firms believed to have supported efforts to hold him accountable during and after his first term. The campaign, which has involved publicly attacking lawyers and undermining bar associations, has included extraordinary steps: suspending certain firms’ lawyers from holding security clearances, terminating their federal contracts, and barring their employees from entering federal buildings on asserted national security grounds. The firms may now be assisting in sensitive matters ranging from trade negotiations to defending law enforcement officers from misconduct accusations, all outside ordinary contracting processes and without the transparency required by law.

“When elite law firms decide it’s safer to appease political power than uphold the rule of law, the public deserves to know what was bargained away. Lawyers swear an oath to serve the public and the Constitution, not abandon principle when it threatens their bottom line. Yet these firms capitulated, engaging in anticipatory obedience to secure protection and profit,” said Chioma Chukwu, Executive Director of American Oversight. “They entered sweeping, secretive agreements with the very administration targeting them, and their work now advances the president’s political agenda at the public’s expense. That is unacceptable. These records must be released so the American people can see the terms of these deals and hold institutions accountable when they choose compliance over principle. And accountability must follow.” 

The lawsuit stems from a series of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests we filed in October, after the administration revealed that numerous firms had entered into agreements exchanging vast amounts of pro bono legal assistance for assurances that the government would not investigate the firms or restrict their access to federal buildings. Members of Congress have already raised alarms that such arrangements may violate federal bribery, extortion, honest-services fraud, racketeering statutes, or the Antideficiency Act. And while Trump may be immune from criminal liability for official acts, that protection does not extend to the firms themselves. 

Despite these concerns, both Commerce and DOJ have withheld all responsive records, ignored statutory deadlines, and in some cases failed to acknowledge the requests at all. Our FOIA requests seek communications, agreements, ethics waivers, billing records, and legal analyses concerning the firms’ work, including any pro bono or discounted arrangements with Commerce or DOJ. We’re asking the court to order the agencies to conduct adequate searches and release all non-exempt responsive documents.