Trump tells firms to work for free defending US police officers

Law firms who signed up to provide pro bono support to the Trump administration could be required to advise police officers accused of crimes while on duty.

The US government has secured pledges worth around £1bn from firms that have made agreements with Trump to see off the threat of sanctions or legal action over diversity and inclusion practices.

The nature of the pro bono work committed to by the firms was still unclear: they had to be causes that both Trump and the law firms supported and agreed to work on, and would include assisting military veterans and other public servants to ensure fairness in the justice system. The law firms agreed to take on a ‘wide range of pro bono matters that represent the full political spectrum, including Conservative ideals’.

The first potential assignment was set out in more detail in an executive order released by the White House yesterday entitled ‘strengthening and unleashing America’s law enforcement to pursue criminals and protect innocent citizens’.

The order states that the attorney general shall take ‘all appropriate action’ to create a mechanism to provide legal resources and indemnification to police officers for actions taken during the performance of their official duties. It then adds: ‘This mechanism shall include the use of private-sector pro bono assistance for such law enforcement officers.’

It is unclear how much resource would be committed by the firms that have signed up to provide pro bono support, nor indeed how the firms would enforce that staff do this work.

The order creates the possibility that the executive could control who law firms represent. And further would make firms beholden to the state required to defend police officers who have injured or killed civilians while on duty.

The likes of Kirkland & Ellis, A&O Shearman, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and Latham & Watkins have each committed to providing $125m in free legal services.

Paul, Weiss also pledged the equivalent of $40m (£31m) in pro bono services over the next four years in return for the withdrawal of an executive order which had threatened to cut the firm’s federal contracts.

The issue of police brutality is particularly sensitive in the US following several cases where black men have died in police custody or while being arrested. Last year, a total of 1,173 civilians were shot and killed in the US by police, of whom 248 were black.