Yesterday morning, a group of alumni of the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP sent a خطاب to Executive Partner Jeremy London protesting the deal the firm made last week with President Donald Trump. Expressing “profound disappointment and deep outrage,” the letter points to indoctrination of every Skadden employee to the legacy Joe Flom, a founding partner who championed diversity, hired the firm’s first female associate, and created the Skadden Fellowship Foundation, to provide attorneys to advocate for marginalized communities on issues such as immigration and racial justice.

“At a time when rule of law, freedom of speech, and the adversarial system collectively face existential threat, Skadden’s agreement with President Trump emboldened him to further undermine our democracy,” the letter says. “In light of Skadden’s position, it is outrageous and self-interested that rather than fulfilling the legal profession’s oath and standing in solidarity with fellow law firms that were fighting to uphold the Constitution, Skadden caved to bullying tactics instead.”

The letter was signed by 83 firm alumni, including five former Skadden partners (three of whom provided their names) and multiple generations of law firm associates and counsels whose tenures date back as far as the 1970s. Thirty one of the signatories, out of concern for professional repercussions, joined the letter anonymously, listed only by their terminal title at the firm and the years they worked there. The letter’s signatories include three alumni—Thomas Sipp, Brenna Frey, and Rachel Cohen–who recently quit in protest of the firm’s failure to stand up for the rule of law. The letter calls for Skadden to “clearly affirm the firm’s commitment to reject the administration’s attacks on the judiciary, the Constitution, and rule of law before it’s too late.”

“I am viscerally disappointed by the failures and cowardice of Skadden leadership, including many individuals who previously had my deep respect,” said Rachel Cohen, former Skadden associate who resigned two weeks ago in protest of the firm failing to stand up for the rule of law. “But I am heartened and unsurprised by the number of Skadden staff, associates and alumni who are holding leadership accountable and fighting to save not just the firm’s reputation, but the future of the American legal system itself.”

Last week, alumni of the firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP sent a letter to Chairman Brad Karp protesting a similar deal the firm reached with President Trump. That letter continues to garner additional signatures from firm alumni (an updated version with 174 signatures can be found below). Elizabeth J. Grossman, an alum of Paul Weiss and the Executive Director of Common Cause Illinois helped organize that letter.

“This letter from Skadden alumni is part of a growing movement of attorneys outraged that some of the nation’s most prestigious and wealthiest law firms are buckling under pressure from the White House and turning their backs on the rule of law in this country,” said Grossman. “The Trump White House is attacking judges, ignoring the Constitution, and bullying firms for representing anyone the administration disagrees with. The firms will tell you this was necessary for their bottom line. Don’t believe them. This is cowardice, plain and simple.”

To read the Skadden alumni letter, انقر هنا.

To read the updated Paul Weiss alumni letter with additional signatures, انقر هنا.