When a lawyer connected to Trump drops a client due to ethical concerns. . .
Marc Mukasey is a lawyer connected to President Trump. Ethical concerns caused Mukasey to drop Pierce Bainbridge as a client earlier this year.
“Regardless of one’s political leanings, any lawyer who is reportedly close to President Trump quitting for ethical reasons is noteworthy.”
Marc Mukasey is a well-known lawyer who has been close to Rudy Giuliani for years. While Mukasey says his firm Mukasey Frenchmen & Sklaroff LLP is a “Trial Firm,” and not a “Republican Firm,” Yahoo previously referred to him as “the lawyer at the center of the Trump Universe.” Mukasey also represented a law firm named Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht LLP, his long-time buddy Giuliani was a firm client. Mukasey quit after less then a year, citing ethical concerns with continued representation.
The firm’s founder John M. Pierce has been in the news related to Kyle Rittenhouse fundraising; his dealings with the Kenosha shooter have led to one debacle, after another, after yet another.
The boss of a firm named Hecht Partners LLP, David L. Hecht, was Pierce’s long-time co-named partner who left Pierce Bainbridge pre-Rittenhouse. Hecht claimed to have resigned in March, which was shortly after Mukasey called it quits. Notably, the month prior, February 2020, involved exceptionally odd financial activity at the firm.
In June 2019, when Mukasey first publicly talked of Pierce Bainbridge he was glowing with praise: “It’s a first-class law firm made up of terrific lawyers and great people.”
Pierce similarly praised the firm’s around 70 lawyers in March 2019, referring to them as “the most elite litigators on the planet.”
Around one year later, Mukasey was gone, 70 attorneys were reduced to almost none, and Pierce recently shared opinions suggesting he was weighted down by perhaps, in his view, a “Seal Team of Hacks?”
As for the Pierce Bainbridge founder, who says Giuliani is a “close friend,” the University of Notre Dame graduate has severe problems of his own. Certain are captured in this 2-minute slice of creative genius by Jennifer Sulkess.
As for Pierce’s former partner David Hecht, in May 2020, a law firm in Australia sent a threat letter insisting that Hecht Partners was an “entirely separate firm” from Pierce Bainbridge. A compilation of related facts render this representation. . .well, have a look for yourself.
Hecht’s spin-off firm has been in existence less than a year, and has already hired outside lawyers in Australia, Europe and North America. It is classic case of “lawyers hiring lawyers,” which dovetails with the story of litigation funder Virage Capital Management funding “lawyers who have needed to hire lawyers of their own”.
As for Mukasey dumping Pierce Bainbridge, regardless of one’s political leanings, any lawyer who is reportedly close to President Trump quitting for ethical reasons is noteworthy.
While the details of Mukasey’s ethical concerns are unknown, there have been a number of ethical issues related to those who’ve been affiliated with the law firm. A few are covered in “Gangland Tactics or Aggressive Lawyering?”
Perhaps there was a top down problem?
Pierce’s problems are overwhelming.
The firm’s ex-General Counsel Carolynn K. Beck, now at Goldstein & McClintock, perhaps failed in a leadership role.
A window into ethical issues for former name-partner, and New York Office Managing Partner, David L. Hecht, is provided in the screenshot below, which involve several sources raising concerns about Hecht’s honesty and integrity. (Additional enlightening information is contained in “Ex-Clients Say Hecht Partners Founder Deceived Them in the Boeing 737 Max Case.”)
With that background, now is a fine time to complete the title:
When a lawyer connected to Trump drops a client due to ethical concerns . . . How bad is it?
