Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Reviews

• MD

  Marsh D

  Dec 29, 2025
  1.0
  Prestige in the legal profession is not supposed to be ornamental. It carries obligations—especially for firms that present themselves as guardians of the rule of law, institutional stability, and professional independence. That is why Skadden’s conduct during a period of sustained pressure on legal norms is so revealing. When those principles were no longer abstract marketing language but concrete professional responsibilities, the firm did not meet them. It chose institutional comfort over institutional duty. This was not a question of ideology. It was a test of whether a firm that trades on its credibility would accept short-term inconvenience in order to uphold the very standards it claims to represent. Skadden declined that responsibility. In doing so, it demonstrated that its celebrated prestige functions more as insulation from risk than as a mandate for leadership. For law students and young attorneys evaluating where to build their careers, this distinction matters. The firm’s brand suggests independence, judgment, and moral seriousness. Its actions showed something else: a willingness to accommodate pressure rather than confront it, even when silence undermines the profession’s credibility. Importantly, aspiring lawyers should understand that this is not an unavoidable tradeoff. There are other elite firms—equally selective, equally demanding, equally respected—that do not require ethical surrender as the price of admission. You can pursue excellence without abandoning professional responsibility. A recent podcast described an attorney who refused to follow his firm’s ethically questionable course, despite personal risk. Rather than being punished, he was ultimately recognized and rewarded for honoring the profession’s core obligations. That example exposes a truth the industry is often reluctant to admit: integrity is not incompatible with success. It is foundational to it. Skadden is not unique. Other firms, including Paul, Weiss, also revealed how quickly institutional principles can give way to self-preservation. But firms that claim leadership status are judged by a higher standard. Influence demands accountability. On that measure, Skadden failed. If prestige means size, revenue, and institutional inertia, the firm remains successful. If prestige means stewardship, independence, and the willingness to uphold professional principles when doing so is costly, its record is far less defensible. History does not judge institutions by how carefully they protected themselves. It judges them by whether they honored their obligations when it mattered. Skadden had an obligation consistent with the values it promotes. It chose not to meet it.

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