The mood among law firm leaders in the Asia-Pacific region is sombre. Top of their concerns is the dilemma posed by Donald Trump to their counterparts in the US.
Executive orders from President Trump after taking office in January in effect curbed corporate law firms’ ability to operate by, for example, suspending lawyers’ security clearances or calling for reviews of government contracts. Law firm leaders faced the choice of doing deals, such as agreeing to pro bono work on causes championed by Trump — or to try to resist. For many in the Apac region, a US government onslaught on commercial private practice law firms — a sector usually treated as politically neutral — is shocking.
Sam Nickless, chief executive of Australian law firm Gilbert + Tobin, recently attended a gathering of law firm managing partners in the region. Attendees felt the targeting of US law firms could be construed as an attack on the rule of law, he says.