Big Law Firm Paul Weiss Caved to Trump's Bogus Order in 4 Days. It Was Cowardly and Inexcusable.
Opening Arguments
Opening Arguments Media LLC
4.3 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 28 March 2025
⏱️ 54 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
*** Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code OPENING at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: http://incogni.com/opening ***
OA1143 - In the past month, Donald Trump has issued a series of truly fascist orders targeting some of the country’s best-known law firms for crimes ranging from hiring people Trump doesn’t like personally to doing some favors for special counsel Jack Smith to flagrantly hiring non-white non-men. What is actually in these orders, and how bad is it that one of leading litigation firms in the country gave in to Trump’s demands without a fight? And what will it mean for the already-overloaded immigration court system when they start going after immigration lawyers as they have also promised? Former NYC Biglaw associate (and current NYC public defender) Liz Skeen joins to help us to understand this uniquely un-American moment in American legal history.
(UPDATE: This episode was recorded shortly before news broke about the Trump administration taking action against major US law firms Wilmer Hale and Skadden Arps.)
-
Addressing Risks From Jenner & Block (3/25/25)
-
Addressing Remedial Action by Paul Weiss (3/25/25)
-
Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court (3/22/25)
-
Suspension of Security Clearances and Evaluation of Government Contracts (Covington & Burling LLP)(2/25/25)
-
“Complicity in the Perversion of Justice: The Role of Lawyers in Eroding the Rule of Law in the Third Reich,” Cythnia Fountaine, St. Mary’s Journal of Legal Ethics (2020)
Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!
To support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You must never ever give up or give in. |
| 0:03.1 | You must keep the faith and keep your eyes on the prize. |
| 0:07.5 | That is your calling. |
| 0:08.9 | That is your mission. |
| 0:10.0 | That is your moral obligation. |
| 0:12.0 | That is your mandate. |
| 0:13.4 | Get out there and do it. |
| 0:15.0 | Get in the way. |
| 0:26.6 | Change. Change happens because people care. You the people have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. |
| 0:36.6 | I still believe with all my heart, America can't. free and beautiful to make this life a wonderful adventure. |
| 0:44.1 | I still believe with all my heart, America can be a place where no child is left hungry, |
| 0:47.9 | no community is left behind, and no one gets told they don't belong. |
| 0:55.0 | The fight for our country is always worth it. |
| 0:58.6 | Hello and welcome to opening arguments. |
| 1:00.9 | This is episode 1143. |
| 1:02.0 | I'm Thomas Smith. |
| 1:03.0 | Out over there is Matt Cameron. |
| 1:03.8 | How are you doing, Matt? |
| 1:09.6 | Well, I'm a lawyer in America in 2025, so I'm feeling a little vulnerable right now for reasons we're going to have to talk about. |
| 1:10.2 | An endangered species, practically. |
| 1:12.3 | Who will speak for the lawyers is what we're asking today. |
| 1:14.3 | And you know what, Liz is here too. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Opening Arguments Media LLC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Opening Arguments Media LLC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.