Departing Skadden associate urges boycott of trainee recruitment at firms silent on Trump attacks

Rachel Cohen’s message comes as her own firm strikes $100 million deal with US President

Departing Skadden associate Rachel Cohen has called on fellow BigLaw lawyers to withdraw from their firms’ graduate recruitment efforts, in protest against what she describes as Donald Trump’s “escalating attacks” on the rule of law.

Cohen — currently serving her notice at Skadden after helping coordinate an open letter urging US law firm leaders to speak out against Trump — has published a detailed online “toolkit” encouraging junior lawyers at targeted firms to boycott student recruitment and interviewing unless their firms publicly oppose recent Executive Orders and federal demands.

The kit, shared under the banner “Trump v. Everybody”, call for big law associates to “withhold participation in all recruiting and interviewing until your firm stands for the rule of law”. The materials outline what Cohen describes as “intimidation tactics” aimed at silencing dissent within the legal profession, and accuse firms of capitulating rather than resisting.

Her post follows reports that Skadden has reached a pre-emptive $100 million pro bono agreement with the White House to avoid being targeted by a forthcoming Executive Order.

The toolkit identifies 20 firms that have received letters from the EEOC requesting highly sensitive data on applicants and employees, including names, races, phone numbers, GPAs, and whether they were hired.

“These intimidation tactics send a clear message: any dissent against Trump invites punitive measure”, according to Cohen, highlighting a 22 March 2025 memo from the White House directing the DOJ to seek sanctions against lawyers engaged in so-called “vexatious litigation” against the government.

The soon-to-be ex-Skadden lawyer has framed the campaign not only as a legal resistance movement, but as a moral imperative for young lawyers. “If your employers cannot protect their employees and the rule of law, do not encourage students to work there,” she says.

The final sections of the toolkit encourage associates at targeted firms to withdraw from all hiring activities until leadership publicly rejects the EEOC demands. Cohen urges lawyers to demand clarity from partners and management about whether their firms intend to comply, and how they plan to protect their employees. She also calls for solidarity and internal organising, writing that “we have collective power — they just don’t want you to realise.”