The partnership between the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the architect of its legal strategy for the last half-decade is now ending.

Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors announced late last month it will no longer represent the NRA going forward. The firm and its namesake, William Brewer, have been instrumental in direction-defining decisions the gun-rights group has made since its corruption scandal broke into public sight in 2018. Those decisions resulted in the NRA splitting from its top contractor, filing for bankruptcy, wiping out its top leadership–including Wayne LaPierre, and being found liable by a New York jury for failing to protect whistle-blowers during a years-long civil trial.

However, as Brewer noted, they also secured a unanimous victory at the Supreme Court and prevented the group’s total dissolution or even the appointment of a government overseer.

“With resolve befitting its mission, the NRA stood and fought,” the firm said in a statement on its website. “Six years later, the NRA still stands – and so do the freedoms for which it has long fought. The Firm is proud it represented the NRA in its blockbuster 9-0 Supreme Court victory, its defeat of the NYAG’s ‘corporate death penalty’ and compliance-monitor claims, its separation from corrupt vendors, and dozens of other matters.”

“The greatest reward of this work arrives now: with major litigation threats defeated, the Firm’s work is nearly done,” it added.

Not everyone inside the group agrees, though. While NRA President Bob Barr, former President Charles Cotton, and other longtime board members have remained staunch Brewer supporters through the firm’s tenure, a growing number of board members have questioned Brewer’s legal strategy–with many effectively voting against the firm’s representation in the group’s last meeting. Jeff Knox, an NRA board member and reform leader, said Brewer’s statement showed the firm “would rather ride off into the sunset than be tossed out into the street,” while Rocky Marshall, another reformer board member, labeled it “comical.”

“In my opinion, the Brewer Attorneys & Counselors law firm has been the largest and most detrimental existential threat to the NRA in its 150-year history,” Marshall told The Reload. “[Brewer], who are not 2A experts and have a history of donating to anti 2A candidates, were selected by Wayne LaPierre to pursue his personal self-dealing interests instead of the interests of the NRA and the members.”

“Since 2018, the NRA has paid the Brewer firm almost $200 million dollars, with the lion’s share of that being focused on the NY vs. NRA suit and related matters,” Knox told The Reload. “Almost all of this could have — and should have — been avoided had the Board been proactive back in 2019 and subsequently. Instead, after almost 6 years of litigation, suits, and counter suits, and almost $200 million spent, the NRA was left struggling on all fronts and the Brewer firm’s record is abysmal.”

The long legal ordeal has resulted in a calamitous drop in membership and revenue, pushing the organization to the edge of solvency and public relevance. The end of the legal fight and the relationship with the firm that directed the NRA’s legal maneuvers, coupled with the recent election of new leadership, mark a new era for the group. The NRA now has the opportunity for a fresh start.

That was one area Brewer and the reformers agreed.

“Having won these wars, the NRA can now go forth and ‘win the peace.'” the firm said. “We look forward to watching, and wish the Association well.”

“The NRA has made numerous corrections and improvements over the past couple of years, especially over the past 6 months since we installed Doug Hamlin as Executive Vice President/CEO,” Knox said. “Our big challenges now are to stabilize our financial situation–which getting out from under Brewer’s oppressive billings will help immensely — and regain the trust and support of our members and the public. I expect our members to elect a large number of reform-minded candidates to the Board in the February elections, and I think that will be a huge help in restoring trust and faith in the Association.”

Brewer first came on the NRA’s radar, ironically, due to his familial connection to the group’s top contractor, Ackerman McQueen. He cemented his position as the group’s primary legal strategist, even overriding or entirely excluding its top internal lawyer in legal decision-making, and top LaPierre confidant after allegations the longtime leader used the contractor as a passthrough to hide the use of NRA funds on extravagant personal expenses–such as private flights or luxury vacations. Brewer masterminded the defense strategy the NRA then employed against a civil suit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James (D.) over those allegations, which saw the group file a Hail Mary bankruptcy claim and ultimately ended in a jury finding against LaPierre, other NRA leaders, and the organization itself.

Along the way, many of the NRA’s top power players backed Brewer, and he even shepherded some around on his own private jet. But consistent complaints from what was, up until recently, a vocal minority of the board that decried his billing practices and attempts to defend LaPierre and other leaders at what reformers claimed was the detriment of the NRA as an organization dogged his tenure with the group. However, Brewer was able to fight off numerous previous legal and procedural attempts to oust the firm.

Knox and Marshal said they planned to take another shot at dissolving the Special Litigation Committee (SLC), which oversees Brewer’s contract, at the next board meeting. They argued Brewer saw the writing on the wall after last year’s attempt nearly succeeded, being thwarted primarily by procedural maneuvering. They said that was the primary motivation for the firm’s announcement that it had decided to move on from the NRA.

“[Brewer Attorneys and Conselors] have been summarily dismissed and would have been removed in May 2024 except for a technicality on a vote to dissolve the SLC,” Marshall said. “To suggest that [Brewer] is voluntarily wrapping up representation is a distortion of the facts and would be funny except that it is a tragic tale of greed and malpractice.”

Brewer framed the decision as merely looking for new opportunities in the new year.

“This holiday season, as we reflect on past accomplishments and look forward to the many opportunities we will pursue in 2025, we wish to congratulate the National Rifle Association on its successful and determined efforts to protect its independence against existential threats, immense odds, and unprecedented government lawfare,” the firm said.

Marshall took a very different view.

“Thankfully, due to Doug Hamlin’s leadership and a majority of the board of directors, [Brewer] has been voted off the island and will never return,” he said. “In Texas, we would say that this is a ‘big ol’ cow pie that has been scraped off of our boots.'”