"Lawyers in the Washington office of Jones Day voiced discontent as the firm held conference calls Friday to discuss its controversial role in an election-related lawsuit [in Pennsylvania]." - Bloomberg Law, November 13, 2020.
There are about 200 lawyers in Jones Day's D.C. office.
At that office, the partner-in-charge Kevyn Orr defended the law firm's role in that lawsuit. He noted that Jones Day is not exiting it. Yesterday the other law firm in the loop of certifying the election results in Pennsylvania Porter Wright filed to withdraw from the case. In addition, Orr reported that Jones Day would not take on any more legal actions related to the 2020 Election.
In essence. through Orr, Jones Day sent the message that it wasn't going to be bullied and would continue to do its duty by its client. The tone was one of the devoted lawyer. That stance, of course, saved it from any kind of mea culpa.
Some in public relations would assess that as smart.
But, whether it was really smart depends on if the protests against the role this law firm has embraced in Pennsylvania will escalate.
It could.
The People's Parity Project, for example, has joined the getting-longer-all-the-time conga line of those taking on Jones Day. The People's Parity Project, reports Abovethelaw, is circulating a petition among law students not to interview for work at Jones Day.
For Jones Day, in the worst-case scenario, clients could flee the firm and prospects would withdraw their request for a proposal.
In addition, there could be partner flight. That could be as severe as the one which overtook Boies Schiller. During the past year Brad Karp at Paul Weiss has been poaching key brandnames. They include Karen Dunn. Those lateral hires created an aura for both Karp and Paul Weiss.
The Boies Schiller downward trajectory kicked in when founder David Boies had been vilified in The New Yorker by Ronan Farrow for his overly aggressive tactics in representing Harvey Weinstein.
Also, a stink Boies couldn't shake became his signature after he represented Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes. Her criminal trial is scheduled for March 2021. In the book "Bad Blood," The Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou detailed Boies' aggressive theatrics at that newspaper. They didn't work. WSJ broke the story that the Theranos supposed breakthrough technology didn't exist.
It is now rumored that Boies Schiller is having cash flow problems.
The unthinkable is currently thinkable: Jones Day could be coming undone. The vulnerability is palpable. Competitors already could be moving in.
Meanwhile, other law firms could also experience flashpoints because of the controversial client legal actions they represent.
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