President Trump is planning to announce new deals with several of the nation’s top law firms requiring them to offer legal support for some of his favored causes, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
In a cabinet meeting on Thursday, Mr. Trump said four or five firms, which he did not name, would reach deals with the administration, each committing to do $125 million worth of legal work on issues he supports. That amount would eclipse the amount of pro bono work other firms agreed to provide under earlier agreements.
Unlike earlier deals that Mr. Trump announced one at a time — each drawing condemnation within the firms and across the legal world — the president is expected to unveil several deals together as one collective concession from the industry, the people said. They, like others in this story, spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the private negotiations.
While it is unclear which firms are next, Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett have all had discussions with Mr. Trump’s advisers in recent days, the people with knowledge of the matter said. Those firms, all top 20 firms by revenue, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mr. Trump’s push for the latest flurry of agreements represents an escalation of his crackdown on an industry that has drawn his ire for its role in seeking to hold him and his allies to account or opposing him politically.
Mr. Trump started going after firms last month by issuing financially punitive executive orders. Although judges have found that the orders are likely unconstitutional, Mr. Trump has continued to impose them on some firms, while his advisers strike deals with other firms that agree to donate time for issues like combating antisemitism.
The new deals could be announced as soon as this week, though the people with knowledge of the talks cautioned that some firms had not yet decided whether to sign, which could delay an announcement. The president has already struck deals with Skadden Arps, Paul Weiss, Milbank and Willkie Farr & Gallagher, some of the industry’s most prestigious names.
Mr. Trump said that some of the firms may be called upon to help with trade deals the president is seeking, incorrectly describing the arrangement as the firms paying “me a lot of money in the form of legal fees” as opposed to them performing work for free. It was the second time this week he had raised the issue of using the firms to help negotiate the trade agreements, a highly specialized area of legal expertise.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
Mr. Trump initially took aim at some obvious targets — firms that sued his first administration, or supported various criminal investigations into his conduct. But increasingly, he is focused on diversity efforts among prominent firms, including 20 that he has ordered the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to scrutinize for discrimination in their hiring programs.
The longer the list of firms, the more numerous the pro bono commitments to issues like fighting antisemitism and supporting veterans. Stephen Miller, Mr. Trump’s senior adviser, estimated this week that firms, including those whose deals were not yet public, had committed nearly $700 million.
“The numbers are adding up,” he said, adding, “We’re going to be close to a billion soon.”
Many firms feel they have little choice but to settle. If they don’t, Mr. Trump’s advisers or associates have said outright or simply implied, they could face executive orders that jeopardize their ability to represent government contractors and limit their access to federal buildings.
One prominent firm, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, was recently contacted under those circumstances. Although Cadwalader has yet to reach a deal, it could do so in the coming days, people with knowledge of the matter said.
But there’s a cost of doing business with Mr. Trump. These firms are arguably beholden to him for the remainder of his term.
The firms also have had to contend with blowback from within their own ranks. Several associates have resigned, as did Willkie’s longest-serving lawyer. Democratic lawmakers are also scrutinizing the deals, demanding the firms provide information about how they came to settle.
Not every firm is bending to Mr. Trump’s demands. Others — including Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block and WilmerHale — chose to fight orders that appear unconstitutional in the eyes of many legal experts.
And so far, judges are siding with the firms, temporarily freezing most of the restrictions.
In filing motions to dismiss the lawsuits challenging the executive orders, lawyers from the Justice Department have charged the firms with discrimination in their hiring practices by relying on diversity, equity and inclusion policies. The government has argued that Mr. Trump has the right to go after law firms that he perceives as encouraging discriminatory hiring.
In a memo to federal agencies, Attorney General Pam Bondi attacked one of the judges for blocking Mr. Trump’s executive order against Jenner & Block. She called the jurist an “unelected federal judge” who had “invaded the policy-making and free speech prerogatives of the executive branch.”
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump hit another firm, Susman Godfrey, with an executive order. The firm, which plans to fight Mr. Trump’s order, represented Dominion, a manufacturer of voting machines that lawyers allied with Mr. Trump falsely attacked.
“Anyone who knows Susman Godfrey knows we believe in the rule of law, and we take seriously our duty to uphold it,” the firm said on Wednesday. “There is no question that we will fight this unconstitutional order.”
Matthew Goldstein contributed reporting
