Willkie Farr & Gallagher is committing at least $100 million in pro bono work to causes aligned to “conservative ideals,” President Donald Trump said Tuesday.
Willkie is the third major law firm to strike a deal with Trump, following similar pledges by Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. It comes as the president has issued a string of executive orders targeting firms for their ties to Trump’s perceived enemies and work on causes he opposes.
“We reached an agreement with President Trump and his administration on matters of great importance to our firm,” Thomas Cerabino, the firm’s chairman, is quoted on Truth Social as saying. “The substance of that agreement is consistent with our Firm’s views on access to legal representation by clients including pro bono clients.”
Willkie earlier this year hired Doug Emhoff, who is married to former Vice President Kamala Harris. Like other Big Law firms, it has handled pro bono cases that could be seen as antagonistic to Trump. The firm represented Georgia election workers who won a $148 million defamation verdict against Rudy Giuliani, a former lawyer for Trump, and has won victories protecting gender-affirming care in public health plans.
The causes to be supported by Willkie under the deal include aiding veterans, ensuring “fairness in the justice system,” and combating antisemitism, according to Trump’s post. The deal marks $240 million total that private sector law firms have committed to support Trump goals in exchange for avoiding a punitive executive order.
Willkie’s leaders defended the deal Tuesday in a firmwide email viewed by Bloomberg Law.
“We were invited to contact the Administration on Sunday, and they outlined a proposed alternative to receiving an Executive Order,” the firm’s executive committee members said in the email. “In making this difficult decision, we concluded, after due consideration of the implications of each possible course of action, that accepting the Administration’s final proposal was the path that best serves our clients’ needs and protects the Firm’s various stakeholders, avoiding potentially grave consequences.”
Emhoff told Willkie’s leadership he disagreed with their seeking a deal with the Trump administration, according to a source familiar with the situation. He told them they should instead fight against an order targeting the firm.
Emhoff on Tuesday, before the deal was announced, participated in an event at Georgetown Law School.
“The rule of law is under attack,” he told students at the event. “Democracy is under attack. And so, all of us lawyers need to do what we can to push back on that.”
Trump’s post also stated Willkie will affirm a commitment to “merit based hiring” and will refrain from “illegal DEI discrimination.” The firm agreed to engage an independent outside counsel to advise the firm in complying with antidiscrimination laws, according to Trump’s post.
The president said the firm “will not deny representation to clients such as members of politically disenfranchised groups and government officials employees and advisors who have not historically received legal representation from major national law firms.”
The deal is based on three principles, Willkie’s leaders said in the firmwide email.
“First, we will continue to follow the law related to our employment practices,” they said. “Second, we will continue to represent clients on both sides of the aisle and with a wide range of ideological views. Third, we will continue to represent underrepresented individuals and groups that are not only important to the Administration, but to Willkie—this includes veterans, Gold Star families and victims of religious discrimination.”
Willkie employs about 1,200 lawyers in 15 offices all over the world. It jumped nearly 20 spots on the list of largest US law firms from 2019 to 2023, according to data from The American Lawyer. No other firm gained as much ground during that time without completing a merger.
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