The Justice Department on Monday dropped its legal defense of President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting several major law firms, moving to dismiss pending appeals voluntarily after lower courts found the measures unconstitutional.
In a Monday evening filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, government lawyers said they would no longer pursue appeals of rulings striking down orders aimed at Perkins Coie, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, Susman Godfrey, and Jenner & Block. The decision came after four federal judges blocked the directives, finding they violated the First, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments.
“The government’s decision to dismiss its appeal is clearly the right one,” a spokesperson for WilmerHale said, calling the executive order unlawful and saying the firm’s challenge was about defending clients’ constitutional right to choose their counsel.
Susman Godfrey said the administration had “capitulated,” describing the episode as an attack on the rule of law. Jenner & Block said the withdrawal “makes permanent” rulings that the orders were unconstitutional and reaffirmed its commitment to advocating for clients “without compromise.” The Justice Department declined to comment.
Trump signed the orders in March and April of last year, targeting firms over past hires and legal work tied to his political and legal battles.
Perkins Coie was singled out for its representation of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign and its role in commissioning the Steele dossier, which former Obama administration leadership used as the basis to investigate the now-debunked claims that Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election.
WilmerHale and Jenner & Block had employed lawyers involved in the DOJ’s prior Trump-Russia investigation, including Robert Mueller and one of his top deputies at the time, Andrew Weissmann.
Meanwhile, Susman Godfrey represented Dominion Voting Systems in the defamation case it filed against Fox News after Trump cast doubts about the trustworthiness of election machines following his 2020 election defeat. The suit ended in a $787 million settlement.
One judge said the order against Perkins Coie signaled that “lawyers must stick to the party line, or else.” Another found the government sought to use its “immense power” to dictate what positions firms could take, with Judge Loren AliKhan, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, describing the action against Susman Godfrey as a “personal vendetta.”
DOJ SEEKS PAUSE IN LAW FIRM EXECUTIVE ORDER CASES
Although it abandoned its fight against the four firms, the Trump administration did manage to secure commitments from nine others to provide roughly $940 million in pro bono legal services to support White House initiatives. Those agreements sparked internal backlash and lawyer resignations across parts of the legal industry.
The decision to end the appeals comes as the DOJ continues to defend against more than 600 lawsuits challenging Trump’s second-term agenda, even as it has opted to walk away from select cases in recent months.