The 47th president’s attacks on law firms and lawyers
In March 2025, the 47th US president took unprecedented action against a range of law firms and lawyers that had previously represented clients adverse to the president or represented parties that disagreed with his political agenda. These punitive actions included the issuing of executive orders and presidential memoranda limiting the ability of attorneys to enter government buildings, precluding future employment with the government, terminating existing government contracts, and excluding clients of such firms from obtaining federal contracts.
Perkins Coie, one of the targeted firms, filed suit in federal court in Washington, D.C., challenging the executive order and calling it “an affront to the Constitution and our adversarial system of justice.” In the lawsuit, Perkins Coie argues that the executive order’s “plain purpose is to bully those who advocate points of view that the President perceives as adverse to the views of his Administration, whether those views are presented on behalf of paying or pro bono clients.”
After reviewing the claims and hearing arguments, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell issued a temporary restraining order on March 12, 2025 blocking enforcement of the executive order. Judge Howell said the president’s executive order was clearly intended to punish the firm, and likely violates the firm’s First, Fifth and Sixth amendment rights. “Our justice system is based on the fundamental belief that justice works best when all parties have zealous advocates,” she said. “That fundamental promise extends to all parties, even those with unpopular ideas or beliefs or causes disliked by [the president].”
Several large law firms, fearing a loss of clients and revenue, have capitulated to the president, committing to deliver tens of millions of dollars’ worth of free legal services to the president’s favored causes, and agreeing to alter their hiring practices and other policies. Many other law firms have decided to “comply in advance,” by changing their policies and removing web pages indicating their commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility. No doubt, many of these actions will also result in reduced representation of clients disapproved by the president.
But many are fighting back:
▪ The law firms Jenner & Block and WilmerHale have joined Perkins Coie in suing the administration.
▪ Over 500 law firms have signed an amicus brief in support of Perkins Coie, declaring that the president’s recent attacks on the law firm industry pose “a grave threat to our system of constitutional governance and to the rule of law itself.”
▪ The American Bar Association has condemned the administration’s attacks on law firms and lawyers (see here and here).
▪ A group of bar associations have filed an amicus brief in support of Perkins Coie (available here [PDF]).
▪ Eighty-two professors at Harvard Law School signed an open letter condemning the presidents unlawful actions against law firms (available here).
▪ Georgetown University law students have begun tracking all the law firms that are fighting the executive orders, or capitulating to them, or “complying in advance.” (Tracker available here.)
And Rachel Cohen, an associate attorney at Skadden Arps, organized an open letter in mid-March, inviting other associates sign. The letter, addressed to large law firms, called on them to take a stand. As of March 27, 2025, over 1,500 associates had signed it. She also ultimately resigned from Skadden, writing:
“The firm [Skadden] has been given time and opportunity to do the right thing. Thus far, we have not. This is a moment that demands urgency. … Colleagues, if you question if it is as bad as you think it is, it is ten times worse. Whether what we measure is the cowardice in face of lost profits, or the proximity to authoritarianism, or the trauma inflicted on our colleagues who are nonwhite, … take what you suspect and multiply it by a factor of ten. Act accordingly. … Do not pretend that what is happening is normal or excusable. It isn’t.”
I agree with Perkins Coie, Judge Howell, the American Bar Association, Harvard’s law professors and Rachel Cohen. The administration’s attacks are clearly unconstitutional and an abuse of power. When lawyers and law firms must fear for their professional lives, and suffer extraordinary retribution at the hands of the executive branch simply because the firm represents clients disapproved by the president, then the rule of law in this country is under existential threat.
—Bruce Volbeda