Willkie Farr & Gallagher, a prominent law firm with ties to Kamala Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff, has reached an agreement with former President Donald Trump. The deal aims to avoid an executive order that could have negatively impacted the firm’s operations.
This agreement is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to punish law firms associated with attorneys who have investigated him or challenged his policies. Under the deal, Willkie Farr & Gallagher will provide $100 million in free legal services for projects the Trump administration approves. Additionally, the firm will end diversity-based hiring practices.
The law firm, which employs over 1,200 lawyers across the U.S. and five other countries, has now joined other major firms, such as Paul Weiss and Skadden & Arps, that have made similar agreements with the Trump administration. These firms were targeted by executive orders aimed at limiting their business with the federal government due to their connections with legal challenges to Trump’s policies.
In an internal email to its staff, the leadership of Willkie Farr explained that the decision to strike a deal was necessary to prevent Trump from signing an executive order that could harm the firm and its clients. The email acknowledged that not all members of the firm were in agreement with the decision.
“We know this news is not welcomed by some of you and you would have urged a different course of action,” the firm’s executive committee stated. “Needless to say, this was an incredibly difficult decision for Firm leadership.”
Doug Emhoff, who is married to Vice President Kamala Harris, expressed his disagreement with the decision. A person familiar with the situation revealed that Emhoff urged the firm to oppose the Trump administration rather than negotiate with it. Emhoff did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
During an event at Georgetown Law School earlier in the week, before the deal was made public, Emhoff criticized the Trump administration. “The rule of law is under attack,” he said. “Lawyers need to do what we can to push back.”
The White House, in its statement about the deal, said Willkie Farr & Gallagher had “proactively reached out” to Trump’s administration. The firm’s leadership, Thomas Cerabino and Matthew Feldman, confirmed that the deal aligned with the firm’s “longstanding practices.”
Meanwhile, three law firms—Perkins Coie, WilmerHale, and Jenner & Block—are currently suing the Trump administration. They are challenging executive orders that seek to cancel their government contracts and prevent their attorneys from accessing federal buildings. Judges have already blocked certain provisions of these orders, with some expressing concern that they were politically motivated.
Paul Weiss and Skadden Arps have also reached agreements with the administration, committing to provide free legal services for mutually agreed-upon projects. Skadden’s Executive Partner, Jeremy London, emphasized that the firm had engaged with the Trump administration for the benefit of its clients, employees, and the firm itself.
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