Jones Day and More: The David Enrich Effect on All Large Law Firms

"As long as Jones Day brands itself as MAGA’s chief counsel, those non-partisan books of business are going to suffer." - Joe Patrice, Abovethelaw, August 29, 2022.

As the world knows, in The New York Times Magazine, David Enrich published an article on the political influence law firm Jones Day has had on the judicial system. The statistic Enrich provides is this: There have been more than 100 conservative appointments Jones Day helped arrange for federal judgeships. That influence is bound to grow, Enrich predicts. 

Patrice's point is now that Jones Day's role in conservative politics has gone quite high-profile, will that freak current clients? They may not want to be associated with a law firm branded as aligned with the far right. In addition, prospects might steer clear. The meltdown which occurred for the Boies Schiller brand/business because of David Boies' representation of Harvey Weinstein and Theranos could overtake Jones Day. 

But Enrich's mission extends beyond disclosing how Jones Day is reshaping the judicial landscape. He is focused on the more general topic of the immense power of large law firms, including progressive ones.

On September 20, 2022, Enrich's book will be published. It could have the same big-bang effect as Martin Luther's nailing his complaints about Roman Catholicism to the church door. That book is Servants of the Damned: Giant Law Firms, Donald Trump, and the Corruption of Justice.

On Amazon, presales are brisk: They give the "manifesto" the high ranking of 12,103.

Of course, progressive law firms don't get off the hook. The message is: Large law firms, whatever their political ideology, also have way too much power. So, let's do something about that.

Blue Tent documents that five of those large progressive large law firms are major contributors to the Democratic Party. They are:

Kirkland & Ellis

Paul Weiss

Latham & Watkins

WilmerHale

Akin Gump.

Just like Luther's discernment of what was very wrong with Roman Catholicism set off The Reformation, the Enrich Effect could trigger a mandate that the wealth, power, and influence of all large law firms be assessed and continually monitored. That movement could mirror the current antitrust one unleashed by FTC chairperson Lina Khan.

The meme gaining traction could harden into: All excessive forms of power have to be reined in. 

In my intuitive career coaching, a number of clients are full of fear about the how much power institutions have over them. For me, those growing power structures mirror the Frank Hague political machine I grew up with in the 1950s in pre-gentrified Jersey City, New Jersey. The people were powerless. 

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