Paul, Weiss is representing Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in a lawsuit against the Hudson Valley Proud Boys and their president William Pepe. The historically Black church is suing over trademark infringement, as Metropolitan AME was awarded Proud Boys International’s interest in the “Proud Boys” trademark after a 2020 attack by members of Proud Boys.
In a normal world, this is the sort of representation that the firm boasts about but is so uncontroversial that it’s not really “news.”
But it’s 2025, so this qualifies as a Big Deal.
Donald Trump’s war on Biglaw, through unconstitutional Executive Orders designed to break major law firms unless they bend a knee to Trump, has already had a tremendous impact on the industry. In the face of financial harm, nine major firms sought Trump’s seal of approval, providing pro bono payola, that is, free legal services on behalf of conservative clients or causes in order to avoid Trumpian retribution. But the chilling effect is even greater than those capitulating firms, because pro bono and public interest representations by Biglaw firms are down — significantly — as firms don’t want to risk Trump’s ire.
And Paul, Weiss was one of the firms — the very first firm, in fact — that capitulated to Trump. Since then, the firm has been experiencing the consequences of their actions — the deal with Trump keeps getting worse, there’ve been congressional investigations and client concerns. And, of course, there’ve been bunches lawyers bailing on the firm to distance themselves from the craven capitulation — most notably, the anticipated 20-odd litigators leaving to work at litigation boutique Dunn Isaacson Rhee, the firm created in the wake of Paul, Weiss’s Trump deal.
So Paul, Weiss taking the legal fight to the Hudson Valley Proud Boys — and Pepe, who was pardoned by Trump for his role in the January 6th attempted coup — is being hailed as a stance against the president’s agenda. Let’s not get too excited though. When it comes to Biglaw bravery, the firms that refused to ink a deal with Trump and are actively fighting the Biglaw EOs in court are at the top of the pyramid. Then the firms actively litigating against key aspects of Trump’s agenda. The firms that capitulated to Trump have a long way to go before the even start to undo the damage they’ve done to the rule of law (and even in that category, Milbank is lapping Paul, Weiss).
But it’s certainly better than repping the Proud Boys in this case.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.
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