What a Shame

The law firm of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft is learning a lesson, " Go fash, go broke," as Scott Lemieux so pithily notes:

Venerable New York Firm That Struck a Deal With Trump Is Losing Lawyers

Cadwalader avoided a punitive executive order, but the accord has left the firm in turmoil

By Erin Mulvaney, May 8, 2025 2:55 pm ET

You know the joke about, "Legal Ethics being an oxymoron?" 

It turns out that for a lot of lawyers, and a lot of lawyers who had very comfortable positions at the 233 year old white shoe firm, legal ethics is something that they take very seriously.

Good on them:

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft struck a deal with President Trump last month intended to secure the future of New York’s oldest law firm. Instead the pact is backfiring, adding to an exodus of lawyers that has placed the firm on uncertain footing.

Cadwalader already was facing troubles, including imminent attorney departures, before its April 11 deal with the White House in which it avoided a punitive executive order by pledging at least $100 million of pro bono work to support the president’s priorities. The agreement now is pushing more lawyers to leave, people familiar with the matter said, spurred by anger that the firm capitulated to Trump instead of fighting back against an administration campaign that many in the industry believe to be unconstitutional.

A key partner in the firm’s litigation group is in late-stage talks to join a boutique firm and several other litigators are planning an exit, the people said. J.B. Howard, who is counsel at the firm and a former Maryland deputy attorney general, is also leaving and sent a letter to firm leadership protesting its capitulation, people familiar with his departure said.

The firm, founded in 1792, made a record $638 million in revenue last year. A firm spokesman said that 2025 is on track to be even stronger than the previous year and that Cadwalader has added five new partners in recent months. “Departures can be tough,” he said. But he added, “Some attrition is normal and expected; it is part of the typical rhythm of a successful firm.”

Unlike the consultant/vampires who populate the Democratic Party establishment (There is no Democratic Party establishment), these folks are actually (literally) putting their money where their mouths are.

I would remind folks out there that the famous Shakespeare quote, "First, let's kill all lawyers," is actually an endorsement of lawyers and their important role in resisting tyranny.

It is said in a discussion by a group of people planning to impose a reign of terror, and they want to kill lawyers because it makes them easier to do so.