Trump's deals with law firms are like deals 'made with a gun to the head,' lawyers say

[Dulcinea]

(NPR) Veteran lawyers have reached a curious conclusion about President Trump's deals with big law firms this year: they do not appear to be legally valid.

Trump since coming to office has punished certain firms for their past clients or causes, stripping them of security clearances and government contracts, while trumpeting deals with others, including titans like Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins.

The White House said the nine firms it's settled with agreed to provide about $1 billion in pro bono services in order to curtail investigations into their hiring practices and maintain access to federal buildings. But the details of those agreements remain murky, even after Democratic lawmakers demanded answers.

"The problem with the law firm deals is … they're not deals at all," said Harold Hongju Koh, a professor and former dean at Yale Law School. "You know, a contract that you make with a gun to your head is not a contract."

https://www.npr.org/2025/05/31/nx-s1-5406173/trump-deals-law-firms

[PJMcK]

1. If the firms were illegally extorted...

... why did they cave and bow to Trump's threats? Aren't they supposed to be the smartest elite lawyers? Didn't they know they were being squeezed? Even though they bill at exorbitant rates, $100 million for pro bono work is a lot of billable hours!

In my little business, I've dealt with a division of one of those firms, Paul Weiss Rifkind. Their smugness and holier-than-thou attitudes were consistently off-putting that unnecessarily dragged out deals so they could churn their clients. Now we find that they're cowards who didn't stand up for their legal rights which they should have known.

Quite pathetic. I admire the firms that told Trump to pound sand.

These firms need to learn the lesson Wall Street has taught:

Trump
Always
Chickens
Out

[sop]

2. Mafia Don held guns to their heads and assured them either their brains or their signatures would be on the contracts.

[Midnight Writer]

3. There is no "gun to their head". They are wimps if they do not stand up for the rule of law.

That is their whole profession, that is what they supposedly base their lives around, that is what they have sworn to do.

There is no gun to their head. This time.

But if things progress, as these spineless jellyfish allow, then maybe next time there will be an actual gun to their head.