Skadden Steers Intel in Deal With Trump to Boost Chipmaker (2)

Lawyers from Skadden advised Intel Corp. in its investment from the US government, work that came nearly five months after the powerful firm pledged $100 million in free legal services in a deal with the White House.

The chipmaker agreed to give the US a 10% equity stake, President Donald Trump told reporters Friday. Skadden’s role in the deal, an $8.9 billion investment aimed at reviving the company, was disclosed Monday in public documents.

Skadden is one of nine major law firms that made deals with Trump to avoid executive orders like those the president issued against some of their rivals. The group collectively pledged nearly $1 billion in free legal services on shared causes such as combating antisemitism, assisting military veterans, and ensuring “fairness in the justice system.”

There is no indication that Skadden is advising Intel as part of the firm’s agreement with Trump. The firm’s lawyers have steered other transactions for Intel, including an April deal to sell a majority stake in its Altera business to Silver Lake and a $15 billion deal to acquire tech company Mobileye in 2017.

Intel declined to comment on its outside lawyers. A Skadden spokesperson did not respond to comment requests.

Intel agreed to cover the Commerce Department’s legal fees related to the deal, including future litigation expenses, the public documents show. The agency, which has not disclosed whether it hired outside lawyers to work on the deal, did not respond to a request for comment.

The CHIPS Act, a Biden era law being used to fund the transaction, requires companies seeking grant money to cover government agencies’ due diligence costs.

“Some deals do allocate expenses in different ways, so I can’t say it’s unprecedented,” said Ann Lipton, a former corporate litigator who teaches at University of Colorado’s law school. “This strikes me as aggressive, though, in that it allocates all expenses—original negotiation, plus anything in the future—to Intel.”

Skadden is a prominent deals firm, whose lawyers advised on nearly $86 billion in mergers and acquisitions transactions in the first half of this year. It is guiding Union Pacific Corp. in the railroad’s Norfolk Southern Corp., a deal announced in July.

The firm in its White House deal also agreed to revise its prestigious public interest fellowship program. Skadden pledged to include politically conservative participants and dedicate at least five spots to projects such as “ensuring fairness” in the justice system and fighting antisemitism.

Jeremy London, Skadden’s executive partner, said in internal messaging after the White House agreements were announced that the firm would keep full control over decisions about the cases and clients it takes. At least one other firm Milbank LLP, is fighting the Trump administration in court over immigration and trade issues central to the president’s agenda.

Trump said in the wake of the deals that he would look to enlist the firms on tariff issues, as well as efforts to boost coal mining and defend law enforcement officers accused of civil rights violations. Kirkland & Ellis, the world’s largest law firm by revenue, worked on new US trade deals with Japan and Korea after being connected with administration officials by Boris Epshteyn, the president’s personal lawyer, according to an Aug. 13 New York Times report.