Twitter Inc has hired a law firm that its new CEO Elon Musk bashed at least twice on the social media platform.
Lawyers from Seattle-founded Perkins Coie told a San Francisco federal judge Wednesday that they will defend Twitter and former CEO Jack Dorsey in a lawsuit filed by a far-right activist who was banned from the site in 2018.
Musk tweeted last month that Twitter “isn’t using Perkins Coie” as outside counsel and urged other companies to boycott the firm. Perkins Coie still represents Twitter in at least six other cases from before Musk acquired the company in October.
A Perkins Coie spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In his Dec. 8 tweet, Musk criticized a former Perkins Coie lawyer, Michael Sussmann, who had advised Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign while at the firm.
“No company should use them until they make amends for Sussmann’s attempt to corrupt a Presidential election,” Musk wrote, referring to Perkins Coie.
Musk also stated that the firm is made up of “white-shoe lawyers” who “thrive on corruption”.
According to Wednesday’s court filings, Perkins Coie is replacing Jenner & Block as counsel for Twitter and Dorsey in a civil RICO lawsuit brought by activist Laura Loomer against Twitter and other defendants.
Loomer, who is seeking $10 billion in damages, claims social media giants, corporations and the federal government conspired to “unlawfully censor conservative voices and interfere with American elections.” Twitter and Dorsey have denied the claims.
Quinn Emanuel on Wednesday told a San Francisco judge it will replace Shearman & Sterling to defend Twitter in a class action lawsuit brought by a Twitter stockholder.
Quinn Emanuel was already involved in the case, representing Musk, one of the defendants. It has also replaced law firms Cooley and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in pending lawsuits against Twitter since Musk became CEO.
