[Photo: ScreenGrab from PBS Video on YouTube]

Being fired just a few days before the end of one’s tenure is usually a ‘kiss of death’, turning that individual into a ‘toxic commodity. That’s not necessarily the case for Sally Yates, the former acting U.S. Attorney General. While some law firms may shy away from hiring her for fear of offending Trump, more are likely to be ambivalent about the dramatic finale, or view it as a badge of honor.

“She has an excellent reputation and I continue to believe that people will be very interested in her,” said Jeffrey Lowe, a partner in the Washington office of legal recruiting firm Major, Lindsey & Africa. “People recognize that these are somewhat unusual times. She has such a tremendous track record people will focus on that.”

While Amy Savage, a recruiter at the Washington office of Lateral Link, doesn’t think her firing will increase her value, she agrees that Ms. Yates’ role as acting attorney general would “command a pretty hefty fee.”

Still, Yates’s recent politicization will, to some, make her a desirable hire. “If it’s a firm that has a political leaning, they might see it as a great thing,” Savage said. A non-profit might also try to snatch her up, hoping that her name recognition will help with donations, a savvy move in the Trump era, as people have taken to “rage donating” as a means of catharsis in a country where the majority of voters picked someone else. The American Civil Liberties Union over the weekend, for example, pulled in $24 million, almost seven times what it got in all of 2015. In the right time frame, Yates’s hire could have a similar effect.

A CAREER PROSECUTOR.    Yates was a holdover from the Obama administration, a career prosecutor watching the store after Loretta Lynch, the last attorney general under President Obama, stepped down. Though Yates would have only been in her role a short while longer, her firing nevertheless galvanized Trump repudiators across the country.

If Yates has any “halo effect,” it will last about a month or two, said Lowe. “People are pretty forgetful. They move on,” he said. “I think you do want to seize the opportunity when you can.”