Former special counsel Jack Smith’s new firm now open; it's 'not an anti-Trump effort,' partner says
Former special counsel Jack Smith and three other high-profile former prosecutors who have been in President Donald Trump’s crosshairs opened a boutique Washington, D.C., law firm Monday that they say will be dedicated to white-collar litigation and internal investigations.
Heaphy, Smith, Harbach & Windom is billing itself as a “full service” firm and anticipates clients from the private and public sector, including school districts.
Despite the perception, “this is not an anti-Trump effort,” says Tim Heaphy, one of the four founders and a former partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher. “Our vision is to create something that outlasts the current moment … that is built for the long term.”
He adds that the firm “will be here ideally longer than this administration.”
Heaphy was the chief investigator for the U.S. House of Representatives’ select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot. Smith is a former U.S. Department of Justice special counsel appointed in 2022 to investigate Trump. Congress is investigating him now.
The White House did not immediately return a request for comment.
The other two founders, David Harbach and Thomas Windom, investigated Trump for allegedly keeping classified documents and attempting to overturn his 2020 election defeat. Trump has called Smith “deranged” and revoked security clearances for Covington & Burling, which was providing pro bono aid for Smith.
The firm hired two associates and anticipates growing more as it develops business.
Heaphy says the firm won’t “be shy about taking on matters adverse to the administration,” but “that’s not our animating force.”
“Just as we will do for our clients, we’ll be prepared to vigorously defend ourselves, and if there are actions taken against us that are unjust, we will assert our rights,” Heaphy says. “I think we’ll have a lot of friends and allies in that.”
But, Heaphy adds, they are “trying to ignore the noise and move forward and create something substantial.”
He anticipates that they could, for example, represent unlawfully terminated government employees, including FBI agents and other civil servants, potentially on a pro bono basis.
Heaphy adds that lawyers have an “ethical obligation” to step up to defend the rule of law when it is under attack.
As lawyers, he says, “we take seriously our role” in protecting our values. “And that’s what we’re going to do.”
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