War on Universities, Lawyers & Expertise

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Big law in Trump's crosshairs​



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Here's where all the firms in the Trump-Big Law fight stand​


www.businessinsider.com

Here's where all the firms in the Trump-Big Law fight stand

President Trump has taken aim at law firms that he believes have wronged him. Here's how they've responded.
www.businessinsider.com www.businessinsider.com

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“… The president's wide-reaching orders have prompted reviews of each firm's government contracts, canceling security clearances for some employees and, in certain cases, blocking them from entering federal buildings — including courthouses.

… The president has singled out a string of law firms that he says have wronged him in some capacity, have worked with his political opponents, or have had diversity initiatives that are counter to his anti-DEI efforts.

What's more, Trump instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi to identify firms with "frivolous" casesagainst the administration so that they could be targeted for further executive action. …”
 
Anyway, the Billionaire oligarchs want a return to the gilded age. Their resentment of and hostile to the gains in workplace flexibility among the managerial class that accelerated during the pandemic has been quite open. Work-life balance is unAmerican to them.

And the Oligarch class has managed to convince the working class that their shared enemy is the Information Class — nameless bureaucrats, elitist professors, teachers, librarians, lawyers, scientists, public health professionals, experts — people with 4-year college and advanced degrees of any kind. That information class is small and had migrated to the Democratic Party since the Clinton Administration, and now is pretty easily tagged with the social policies that the working class fervently resents — reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, immigrant rights, diversity, equity, inclusion.

The message from the Oligarchs to the working class has been very simple and effective — DEI bad, meritocracy good. Except they are railing against the existing meritocracy - now meritocracy means running a business, not expertise and effort to rise the ladder in your field due to your ideas and effort regardless of your gender or ethnicity.

Trump is demanding public obedience but also a public demonstration of how he is re-educating the information class.

And in the meantime, the oligarchs are destroying everything in their path to rush through their tax cuts an regulatory cuts to usher in a new gilded age without pesky experts reigning in their excesses, self-dealing and abuses of workers rights, of the environment (gotta have clean coal to feed the AI future where AI replaces the need for the information class), and everyone else who is not the gilded class. Everyone else will just be there to work and feed the machine. They are saying it out loud now because the have the money AND the numbers with their broad base of working class support.

A lot of the Trump Administration rhetoric around tariffs has been surprisingly socialist to Marxist sounding — some that Bernie Sanders might blush about or at least be unwilling to make part of his public platform. But it has also created some cracks in the Gilded Class, with investment bankers and Wall Street and infotainment oligarchs dismayed at the destabilization of world trade in a half-baked attempt to re-shore manufacturing for the MAGA base (or is it to raise taxes to support tax cuts or to force Allie’s to negotiate more favorable trade deals and then continue with the current trade system, the Administration can’t get its story straight on motivations, which for now is freaking out a majority of Americans — but Americans are easily distracted and have short memories).

The arrogance of DOGE has been animated by the Musk and Tech Bro belief that coders and AI can now replace expertise — people who think like Tech Bros can look at any issue, bring a “fresh perspective” unburdened by the bureaucracy and all their rules and charts and details, and just direct their “thinking” machines to solve any issue easily.

The same arrogance, together with a willingness to make up data and con people if your disdain of expertise proves problematic, has underpinned a lot of tech start-ups, perhaps most famously Theranos, which claimed they could do an end-around of medical expertise and have tech-based blood testing do it a thousand times more efficiently. Or not.

But the RFK Jr MAHA branch of this MAGA/Technoligarch movement shares a lot of DNA with the thinking behind Theranos and the outright hostility to scientific research and expertise. It’s only “real” science if it confirms your feelings. Everything else is bureaucratic dominion, the information dictatorship preventing people from doing their own research and believing whatever it is that makes sense to them. Your kid is autistic because the eggheads insisted on vaccinations that made him that way. Your kid is trans because teachers made him that way. You are addicted to pain killers because experts told you they were safe. You are the victim and the experts are always, always using their information to keep you down and importing foreign immigrants to keep you down.
 
nycfan said:
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Yep. We're seeing the intractable flaw in the capitalist model, which is that the need for profits turns companies (including law firms) into frogs in a pot, willing to bet the other frogs will die before they do. The only viable solution is regulation and political accountability, both of which have been massively undermined over the last 40 years.
 

Trump’s $1 Billion Law Firm Deals Are the Work of His Personal Lawyer​

Boris Epshteyn, who doesn’t work for the government, has negotiated with a series of law firms to cajole them into entering deals​


🎁 🔗—> https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/tru...8c?st=cTaX8N&reflink=mobilewebshare_permalink

“President Trump has reached around $1 billion in deals with the country’s top law firms in the past month, using the full weight of his presidency to threaten their business.

To do these deals, Trump has turned to a lawyer who doesn’t work for the government.

Trump’s personal lawyer Boris Epshteyn, who has been indicted in Arizona on charges related to Trump’s 2020 election loss, has emerged as the face of the Trump administration’s campaign against large law firms that it views as hostile to the president and his causes, according to lawyers at seven of the firms and White House officials.

In a series of meetings and phone calls, Epshteyn has extracted large commitments of pro bono work for Trump-supported causes and changes to the law firms’ hiring practices to Trump’s preferences, the lawyers and officials said.

On Friday alone, five law firms including Latham & Watkins and Kirkland & Ellis entered into such dealsworth some $600 million in pro bono work, after talking with Epshteyn.

Epshteyn has never tried a criminal or civil case and carries a white business card that reads, “Boris Epshteyn, Esq.” that lists his Gmail email account and a cellphone number.

… In some conversations, Epshteyn has flagged deals other law firm rivals made, some of the people said. Firms have regularly tried to learn their status, giving the White House leverage for other potential deals, lawyers said. Trump has been kept abreast of the negotiations, and the White House ultimately has to sign off on the deals.

“President Trump’s policy team is executing on his directive to hold Big Law accountable for their weaponization of justice and their lies, and the strategy has proven tremendously successful,” said Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary. She said the pro bono work would be used for “the administration’s priorities.”

Privately, legal industry leaders say they view his efforts as designed to intimidate and sideline lawyers who would otherwise oppose the administration. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has launched investigations of many firms since Trump took office, and Trump’s White House has issued executive orders against others, with threats and rumors of more to come. Trump aide Stephen Miller crafted the framework for the orders, people familiar with the matter said. …”
 
nycfan said:

Trump’s $1 Billion Law Firm Deals Are the Work of His Personal Lawyer​

Boris Epshteyn, who doesn’t work for the government, has negotiated with a series of law firms to cajole them into entering deals​


🎁 🔗—> https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/tru...8c?st=cTaX8N&reflink=mobilewebshare_permalink

“President Trump has reached around $1 billion in deals with the country’s top law firms in the past month, using the full weight of his presidency to threaten their business.

To do these deals, Trump has turned to a lawyer who doesn’t work for the government.

Trump’s personal lawyer Boris Epshteyn, who has been indicted in Arizona on charges related to Trump’s 2020 election loss, has emerged as the face of the Trump administration’s campaign against large law firms that it views as hostile to the president and his causes, according to lawyers at seven of the firms and White House officials.

In a series of meetings and phone calls, Epshteyn has extracted large commitments of pro bono work for Trump-supported causes and changes to the law firms’ hiring practices to Trump’s preferences, the lawyers and officials said.

On Friday alone, five law firms including Latham & Watkins and Kirkland & Ellis entered into such dealsworth some $600 million in pro bono work, after talking with Epshteyn.

Epshteyn has never tried a criminal or civil case and carries a white business card that reads, “Boris Epshteyn, Esq.” that lists his Gmail email account and a cellphone number.

… In some conversations, Epshteyn has flagged deals other law firm rivals made, some of the people said. Firms have regularly tried to learn their status, giving the White House leverage for other potential deals, lawyers said. Trump has been kept abreast of the negotiations, and the White House ultimately has to sign off on the deals.

“President Trump’s policy team is executing on his directive to hold Big Law accountable for their weaponization of justice and their lies, and the strategy has proven tremendously successful,” said Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary. She said the pro bono work would be used for “the administration’s priorities.”

Privately, legal industry leaders say they view his efforts as designed to intimidate and sideline lawyers who would otherwise oppose the administration. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has launched investigations of many firms since Trump took office, and Trump’s White House has issued executive orders against others, with threats and rumors of more to come. Trump aide Stephen Miller crafted the framework for the orders, people familiar with the matter said. …”
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“…The Trump administration’s campaign against law firms—both imposing executive orders and negotiating peace with them—started with Trump’s desire for revenge, the people said.

A wide swath of Trump supporters and top officials, including Miller aide May Mailman, have said they believe that large law firms stand opposed to conservatives, especially after many of them shunned first-term appointees.

Many in Trump’s orbit have also said they believe law firms were biased against Trump, in particular. Todd Blanche, the president’s former criminal defense lawyer and now the deputy attorney general, for example, quit Cadwalader after the firm refused to let him represent Trump.

In a deal announced Friday, Cadwalader agreed to provide at least $100 million in pro bono legal services. During negotiations, Cadwalader had sought a lower pro bono commitment compared with those of other firms based on its smaller size, according to people familiar with the matter, and went to Blanche for assistance. Blanche told Cadwalader that he wasn’t involved in the administration’s process of selecting firms.

…The deals have sparked turmoil within law firms, with some associates writing letters in protest or even quitting, and some partners acknowledging the settlements appear unseemly.

But the monetary figures were less onerous than they might seem, some lawyers argued. For example, the pro bono commitments in some instances were to be completed “during the Trump administration and beyond.” Beyond, could stretch until the end of time, a lawyer involved in one of the deals said.“

——
See, I get that these top firms are telling themselves and their attorneys just that last bit — our resolutions are drafted so we really don’t owe Trump anything and now we’ve protected our clients and ourselves from harassment.

But while that very strategy works well a lot of times in Big Law practice (give the appearance of doing something under terms that are so flexible as to be meaningless), I don’t think they will get off so easy under Trump. He was already claiming in his public cabinet meeting last week that he would donate some of HIS pro bono hours from Big Law to negotiate trade deals in his trade war (but also mused about saving a lot of that free legal work for himself for when he is out of office). But (a) trade negotiations would not be considered pro bono work in the real world and (b) Trump clearly views all those pro bono hours as his property to be used as and WHEN he directs.

The rubber will meet the road on these uncommitted commitments at some point and I very much doubt these Firms will get away with refusing a representation Trump demands.
 

Trump’s drive against top universities could carry a big economic cost​

amp.cnn.com

Trump’s drive against top universities could carry a big economic cost | CNN Politics

President Donald Trump’s offensive against elite universities is also an assault on the nation’s most economically dynamic metropolitan areas — and a threat to America’s global competitiveness.
amp.cnn.com amp.cnn.com

“… From Boston and Austin to Seattle and Silicon Valley, these elite research universities have served as the catalysts for growth in the nation’s most productive regional economies. They have produced a steady stream of scientific breakthroughs and skilled young graduates who flow into companies pursuing cutting-edge technologies in computing, communications, artificial intelligence, medical equipment, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and other advanced industries.

“This is the fundamental economic geography of the high-value, advanced industry system in America,” said Mark Muro, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Brookings Metro think tank. “This is American industrial policy at work.”

But now the Trump administration is threatening to stall this economic engine by terminating research grants for major universities, cutting overall federal support for scientific research, and deporting international students over their political activities.

… A Brookings Metro analysis provided exclusively to CNN found that of the 100 US counties that generate the most economic output, 44 are home to a university that ranks among the top 100 in receiving federal research grants. Forty-one of the 100 counties producing the most economic output also contain at least one or more of the 100 institutions graduating the most PhDs in science and engineering.

(Several other top 100 output counties, like San Mateo outside San Francisco and Essex outside Boston, benefit from the economic activity spun off from nearby universities even though they don’t house one themselves.)

These counties far outpunch their weight in generating economic activity. The 44 high-output counties that house at least one major research university represent less than 1.5% of the nation’s roughly 3,100 counties. But they generate nearly 35% of the nation’s total economic output, Brookings Metro found.

“People look at the US innovation system as something that is immutable and durable,” Muro said.

“But these are actually delicate ecosystems that have been built up over 50 years. This is one of the great achievements of post-World War II American economic development. And that could be gravely disrupted here.” …”
 
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GIFT 🎁 🔗—> Inside Trump’s Pressure Campaign on Universities

“As he finished lunch in the private dining room outside the Oval Office on April 1, President Trump floated an astounding proposal: What if the government simply canceled every dollar of the nearly $9 billion promised to Harvard University?

The administration’s campaign to expunge “woke” ideology from college campuses had already forced Columbia University to strike a deal. Now, the White House was eyeing the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university.

“What if we never pay them?” Mr. Trump casually asked, according to a person familiar with the conversation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private discussion. “Wouldn’t that be cool?”

The moment underscored the aggressive, ad hoc approach continuing to shape one of the new administration’s most consequential policies. …”
 
altmin said:
Donald Glover Reaction GIF
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Thank god at least a few universities - including some in the Big 10 - are finally starting to stand up and say no, even if it costs them. As Columbia has shown bending the knee to Trump and giving in to his demands (likely thought up by people like Chris Rufo) has gained them nothing other than a blatant Trump 2.0 attempt to just take them over via federal "oversight."
 
nycfan said:
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GIFT 🎁 🔗—> Inside Trump’s Pressure Campaign on Universities

“As he finished lunch in the private dining room outside the Oval Office on April 1, President Trump floated an astounding proposal: What if the government simply canceled every dollar of the nearly $9 billion promised to Harvard University?

The administration’s campaign to expunge “woke” ideology from college campuses had already forced Columbia University to strike a deal. Now, the White House was eyeing the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university.

“What if we never pay them?” Mr. Trump casually asked, according to a person familiar with the conversation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private discussion. “Wouldn’t that be cool?”

The moment underscored the aggressive, ad hoc approach continuing to shape one of the new administration’s most consequential policies. …”
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Joe weighs in on our war on expertise and the European reaction to our stupidity...

www.rawstory.com

Foreign countries 'cannot believe what we are doing to ourselves': Morning Joe

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough blasted president Donald Trump for eroding American advantages as he pushes through unpopular and legally questionable policies.China has been working to build new trade relationships with nations that Trump has slapped with massive tariffs, as foreign universities are...
www.rawstory.com www.rawstory.com
 

The Little-Known Bureaucrats Tearing Through American Universities​

A new task force formed to combat antisemitism is using funding threats to force broader changes on campus​


🎁 🔗 —> https://www.wsj.com/us-news/educati...4e?st=dby1es&reflink=mobilewebshare_permalink

“… Called the Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, the group’s stated goal is to “root out antisemitic harassment in schools and on college campuses,” a mission that emerged from pro-Palestinian protests that disrupted campuses last year. But along the way, the task force is taking on university culture more broadly in ways that echo the MAGA dreams for remaking higher education—including ending racial preferences in admissions and hiring.

The task-force leaders have unprecedented leverage, thanks to a financial assault on higher education by the Trump administration that has no equal since the federal government began pumping money into research at universities during World War II. The Trump administration has pulled or frozen more than $11 billion in funding from at least seven universities. The tactics and agencies have varied but the top-line intent, Trump said on the campaign trail, is to wrest control of universities from the far left.

… The handful of government officials driving the group aren’t household names. Aside from Keveney, the acting general counsel at HHS, they include a former Fox News commentator; a onetime leader of the Justice Department civil-rights division; and a government procurement official who spent much of his career in finance.

… In the move-fast-and break-things model of the Trump administration, the task force is deploying a range of legal tools and interpreting them expansively—moves hailed as brilliant and long overdue by conservative critics of universities.

… University leaders who are dealing with the task force use words like “scary” and “unsettling.” Academics say the group’s blunt negotiation approach is a sharp contrast to the more collaborative style of the Education Department officials they historically have met with to discuss campus problems.

…
The task force asked Harvard to not only protect Jewish students and faculty from antisemitism but to reform the campus culture by making structural changes to governance, student admissions and faculty hiring. Those changes are aimed at improving viewpoint diversity, and ending “ideological capture,” the task force wrote.

Advocates of the strategy contend there is a logical bridge between antisemitism, anti-Western ideologies and what they contend is an intolerant progressive orthodoxy on campus.

Academic theories on “settler colonialism” hold that Israel is a white supremacist state created by the theft of land from Palestinians. Demonizing Zionism has fueled antisemitism on college campuses, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which has tracked reports of such behavior since 2014. …”
 
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