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Veterans, in particular, are seeking free legal work from firms that cut deals with the White House like Skadden, Kirkland & Ellis and Paul Weiss.
May 25, 2025, 5:00 a.m. ET
President Trump has tossed around many ideas about how elite law firms can fulfill their commitments to provide free legal work for causes he supports, among them fighting antisemitism, negotiating coal leases, hammering out trade deals and defending police officers accused of misconduct.
Greta Van Susteren, the conservative media personality and lawyer, had her own idea of how one of those elite firms, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, could make good on the pro bono promises. She wanted the large law firm to help a friend of a friend sue a local Michigan judge.
So Ms. Van Susteren gave the head of Skadden’s pro bono practice a call about her friend’s friend, a 47-year-old veteran, who she said had been unfairly issued a protective order in his divorce proceeding that violated his civil rights.
Skadden, Ms. Van Susteren said, initially told her that it could not represent this person and later offered in an email to play “some sort of support role” in the case. The current Newsmax host, who formerly worked for Fox News, was not satisfied.
Ms. Van Susteren took to X, the social media site, to blast Skadden, calling it “disgraceful,” and tagged Mr. Trump.
“I was annoyed, ” Ms. Van Susteren said in an interview. “I wanted them to actually help this veteran.”
