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Thomas F. Maffei published in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly for article on seeing beyond the administration’s next move
Thomas F. Maffei, senior counsel in the firm’s Litigation Department, was published in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly on June 6 for his article, “Chess not checkers: avoiding obvious risks.” In this article, Tom analyzes the unconstitutional nature of the Trump administration’s attacks on law firms. He explains that the firms who settled with the administration were only playing “checkers,” while the firms who refused to settle knew how to play the long game of “chess,” and realized that the attacks would be deemed unconstitutional.
From the article:
“Someone once said that great lawyers, especially trial lawyers, play chess, not checkers. Everyone knows that chess players see beyond the next move, and even beyond that.
A recent newspaper article, “Trump allies look to benefit from pro bono vows by elite law firms” (New York Times, May 25), raises the question of whether the leaders of the law firms who caved to the administration’s threats only know how to play checkers. Their inability to see what was coming and the serious consequences to follow became even more obvious by the recent federal court decision declaring the administration’s executive order targeting WilmerHale unconstitutional. The settling law firms, which thought they were protecting their businesses, now find themselves between a rock and a hard place.”
