Client Fires Paul Weiss Law Firm Following Trump’s Executive Order

The client said a presidential executive order could present a conflict of interest if he retains the firm as defense counsel.

President Donald Trump signs an Executive Order at the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 25, 2025. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

New York-based law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison (Paul Weiss) said in a March 19 court filing that it was fired by a client after President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month revoking security clearances from its employees.

In the filing, the firm said Steven Schwartz, a former executive facing criminal bribery charges, terminated its services following Trump’s March 14 executive order, which also restricted the firm’s employees’ access to government buildings and workers. As a result, the firm asked U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz to allow it to withdraw from Schwartz’s case.

“Mr. Schwartz is concerned that the firm’s continued representation of him may negatively affect his ability to obtain a favorable review of his case, or, due to the Executive Order, otherwise create potential conflicts of interest as between Mr. Schwartz and Paul, Weiss, that Mr. Schwartz is not prepared to waive,” the filing read.

“Regardless of whether or not the government is permitted to engage with Paul, Weiss in the ongoing review, Mr. Schwartz is concerned that Paul, Weiss’s ongoing involvement in the matter could in and of itself prejudice the review of his case.”

Trump’s order targeted Paul Weiss’s hiring of attorney Mark Pomerantz in 2022, who had previously left the firm to work in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. Pomerantz worked on the prosecution against Trump regarding his personal and business affairs before leaving the district attorney’s office and rejoining Paul Weiss.

The order also mentioned a former leading prosecutor in the office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who joined the firm and brought a pro bono case against individuals charged in the events on Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol. Trump suggested these kinds of pro bono cases deprived defendants of access to justice.

The president also accused Paul Weiss of discriminating against its own employees “on the basis of race and other categories prohibited by civil rights laws,” alleging its “diversity, equity, and inclusion” policies were prejudicial.

Schwartz is a former chief legal officer for Cognizant Technology Corp. He was charged in 2019 for violating the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in a bribery scheme in India and has since pleaded not guilty. The Trump administration paused its pending prosecutions under the foreign bribery law in February.

In its Wednesday court filing, Paul Weiss said the Justice Department is reviewing its next steps in the case and that Schwartz is “concerned that the firm’s continued representation of him may negatively affect his ability to obtain a favorable review of his case” or present conflicts of interest.

Trump issued a similar executive order on March 6 targeting the law firm Perkins Coie and revoking its employees’ security clearances. The firm had been involved in generating the discredited Steele dossier, which had alleged collusion between the 2016 Trump presidential campaign and Russia.

On March 12, a federal judge temporarily blocked parts of Trump’s order after Perkins Coie alleged in a lawsuit that the administration had violated the U.S. Constitution. The judge said that the firm was likely to succeed in its lawsuit.

Kimberly Hayek and Reuters contributed to this report.