Two More Law Firms Sue Trump Administration To Block Presidential Orders Punishing Law Firms

Trump continues to abuse his power.    He is unfit for office.

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T

Transcript:

Trump's multiple criminal trials—the Russia investigation—eventually was helmed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who previously worked at WilmerHale. Trump targeted that firm with an order signed Thursday evening. The firms are asking the federal district court in Washington to block enforcement of the sweeping executive orders as a violation of their First Amendment rights.

Friday's complaints make Jenner & Block and WilmerHale the second and third law firms to sue the Trump Administration over executive orders threatening their ability to do business. Perkins Coie, a major Seattle-based firm, sued Trump earlier in March after he issued a similar executive order sanctioning the firm in response to work it had done on behalf of Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. That suit earned an early win in court, blocking much of the executive order from being implemented. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell blocked the Perkins order, saying it was likely unconstitutional. She ordered the Trump Administration to rescind any directives instructing agencies not to work with the firm.

And friends, stating the obvious—it is so important for all lawyers and law firms and legal organizations to stand strong together against Trump’s lawlessness, abuse of power, and unconstitutional conduct. Even though it's critically important that we all stand together, not every law firm has seen fit to stand up to Donald Trump’s lawlessness.

All my editorial addition—the article continues:

Other firms, however, have attempted to work with Trump instead of fighting him over his orders. Jenner & Block’s lawsuit cites the recent capitulation by another law firm, Paul Weiss, to pressure from Trump, noting that its chairman, Brad Karp, cut a deal with Trump to avoid being punished. The suit describes this as the intended effect of an effort by Trump to intimidate those who would challenge him or his administration.

Okay friends, three main takeaways from this—you know, not just good, but great and important legal development. When we were reviewing the new reporting, did you hear me mention the name of the lawyer who's representing WilmerHale? That lawyer is Paul Clement.

Sound familiar? Remember the Mayor Eric Adams prosecution up in New York? The case in which Donald Trump's dirty DOJ lawyers tried to dismiss the case temporarily without prejudice—a very serious public corruption prosecution against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Trump’s lawyers tried to go in and convince the presiding Judge, Dale Ho, that they should be permitted to dismiss the case without prejudice temporarily—meaning they could still hang that case over the head of Mayor Eric Adams to make sure he's a good little mayor and he continues to support Donald Trump’s political priorities—or else we can just drop that criminal prosecution right back on your head, Mayor.

Well, remember how Judge Dale Ho said, “Not so fast,” and he appointed what’s called an amicus curiae—a friend of the court—an outside lawyer to argue why this arrangement, where Trump’s DOJ wants to just temporarily dismiss the prosecution against Eric Adams, might be problematic? He appointed who? Paul Clement, to argue the legality, the wisdom, the pros and cons of allowing this arrangement whereby the Trump Administration could just re-indict Eric Adams if Eric Adams didn’t stay in line.

So who is Paul Clement? Paul Clement was President George W. Bush’s Solicitor General—that's the person who takes point on deciding what should be argued before the United States Supreme Court, what the Executive Branch, the federal government’s position, should be before the Supreme Court. And Paul Clement argued more than a hundred cases before the United States Supreme Court. He is a stalwart conservative lawyer who has taken up conservative cause after conservative cause over the years.

And you may recall, in the Eric Adams case, what did he advise Judge Ho? He said, “No. The Trump Administration, the DOJ lawyers, should not be permitted to dismiss the case only temporarily without prejudice. If anything, they should be required by the court to dismiss it with prejudice, so they can’t hold it over, you know, the Mayor’s head to try to keep him in line.” That is one of the recommendations Paul Clement made to Dale Ho. And you may recall, that is still an ongoing case—an open issue. Judge Ho has not ruled yet in that case or decided what other hearings he may need to conduct in that case before he is prepared to rule.

But importantly for our purposes—it is the same Paul Clement who is now representing WilmerHale as they fight against Donald Trump’s, you know, abuse and overreach and unlawful conduct—trying to issue executive orders to punish law firms that displease him for one reason or another.

And remember, here is what Paul Clement said in his capacity representing WilmerHale:

"The President’s sweeping attack on WilmerHale and other firms is unprecedented and unconstitutional,"
says former Solicitor General for the United States of America and storied conservative lawyer, Paul Clement.

Okay friends, takeaway number two—there has already been a win for the law firms, specifically for Perkins Coie, which sued the Trump Administration previously when he tried to punish them with an unlawful executive order. Judge Beryl Howell in that case has already said that Donald Trump’s executive order is “likely unconstitutional.”

So friends, that's already a win—a preliminary win, admittedly. There will be more litigation in all of these cases. But that preliminary win should inspire and encourage all attorneys, all law firms, all legal professionals, all legal organizations to stand strong in the face of Donald Trump’s abuse of power.

And the third and final takeaway—friends, we really all need to stand strong together. Because think about it: if we don’t—if we take this lying down—and we recognize that, you know, this has just become the normal course of business? I guess when a president is sworn in who happens to be a Democrat, that president on day one can issue executive orders punishing all law firms that take up conservative clients or conservative causes?

Of course not. Of course not.

So we really must all stand strong together—or we may just all fall apart. And I believe, to the overwhelming majority of the legal profession—

Justice matters.

Friends, as always, please stay safe, please stay tuned, and I look forward to talking with you all again tomorrow.