Wall Street Journal, Big Law Firms Struck a Truce With Trump—and Set Off a Clash With Recruits:
Campus recruiting is the newest front in the Trump-induced turmoil at some of the country’s most prominent law firms.
In the days since Paul Weiss, Skadden Arps and other elite firms cut deals with the president to fend off punitive orders, their actions have set off protests and recruiting boycotts among the next wave of top young legal talent. Georgetown Law students canceled a recruiting event this week with Skadden Arps. A group of students and lawyers is circulating a missive on social media and over email, urging students at top schools to refrain from applying to the firms.
Several Columbia law students who signed on to start at the firms this summer are asking whether they can pull out of those commitments, one recruiter said. Junior lawyers at some firms, meanwhile, are rejecting their bosses’ requests to interview summer associates.
The orders against several white-shoe law firms with ties to President Trump’s political and legal adversaries have riven the clubby world of Washington big law, sparking internal debates over how to respond. This week, Willkie Farr and Milbank became the latest firms to strike agreements to avoid potentially crippling White House sanctions. Other firms such as Perkins Coie have filed lawsuits challenging the Trump orders.
Now, the agita is seeping into elite law schools. At top schools, first-year law students are beginning to apply to and interview with firms for summer 2026 internships. Prestige and pay—starting salaries can exceed $200,000—aren’t the only selling points. Many aspire to big-law careers at certain firms because of pro-bono work that often runs counter to the administration’s priorities, such as on immigration. …
‘Hijack recruitment’
Rachel Cohen, who resigned from Skadden in March, has circulated guides for associates and students that aim to create a logjam in the recruiting process. “What we really want to do is give people the tools and organize within their firms,” she said.
One she posted Wednesday urged students to push career-services offices at law schools to block Paul Weiss, Skadden, Willkie and Milbank from participating in formal campus recruiting activities.
Another suggestion from the guide: “Hijack recruitment.” Apply to firms “that have actively capitulated to the current administration” and, when interviewing, ask employees sharp questions about their response.
“Then withdraw your application,” the guide read. “It wastes firms’ time and forces them to take law students seriously.”
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