President Donald Trump has insisted that the U.S. will soon re-take control of the Panama Canal, making threat after threat, and the Panama Canal Authority has officially lawyered up.  Vinson & Elkins — a firm that brought in $1,003,453,000 gross revenue in 2023, putting it at No. 54 on the most recent Am Law 100 — is providing “legal and strategic advice” to the Autoridad del Canal de Panama concerning relations with the U.S. government. Among the Vinson lawyers involved is G. Zachary Terwilliger, who served as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia during the first Republican Trump administration.  Ten Vinson lawyers are working on the matter, and the firm has received nearly $7 million in fees since November. 

Panama Is Ready To Fight Over Their Canal 

Here are some additional details on the representation:  The work includes advising the canal authority and potentially engaging with U.S. officials in connection with “congressional inquiries, legislative actions, executive decisions, treaties, laws, and U.S. policy,” the firm said in the filings, which were dated Jan. 31.  Vinson, a Houston-founded firm with about 700 lawyers, said in its filings that Terwilliger and the other partners involved are billing the Panama Canal Authority between $1,050 and $1,500 an hour. The firm said it has spent $3.8 million in connection with its work, including more than $780,000 on “professional fees relating to non-registerable legal services” from U.S. law firm Mayer Brown.