Breaking News: Skadden Makes a Deal with Trump Administration

 As expected, prominent law firm Skadden ducked being issued an Executive Order by cutting a deal with the Trump administration.

Now, its CMO Luke Ferrandino will have to "sell" it to the many constituencies which balk about negotiating with the administration. This at a time when the role of CMO is being scrutinized by leadership in organizations. 

Another critical public relations issue Ferrandino has to manage is the resignation of third-year associate Rachel Cohen. She challenged Skadden to do what she determined was the right thing in this hot-button matter of the administration's focus on the legal sector. According to her, that didn't happen. Cohen's activism has received plenty of media attention.

The terms and conditions of the deal, according to the President include $100 million of pro bono work which the two approve. Paul Weiss got off easier with only $40 million of pro bono work. Also, as Bloomberg Law notes:

"Skadden also commits to funding five fellows and to merit-based hiring and retention, and it won’t deny representation to disenfranchised groups ..."

This crisis associated with Executive Orders in the legal sector has gone binary: There are the dealmakers such as Skadden and Paul Weiss and the "resistance" like Perkins Coie, Jenner and Block and Wilmer Hale. The tide of public opinion is against those which negotiated. Yet, despite all the controversy there seems to be little loss of clients or star partners.

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