Law firms fighting Trump to ask judges to permanently block executive orders

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Law firms fighting Trump to ask judges to permanently block executive orders

By ERIC TUCKER
Updated 12:01 AM EDT, April 23, 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two major law firms are expected to ask separate judges on Wednesday to permanently block President Donald Trump’s executive orders that were designed to punish them and hurt their business operations.

The firms — Perkins Coie and WilmerHale — have said the orders imposed in March are unconstitutional assaults on the legal profession that threaten their relationships with clients and retaliate against them based either on their past legal representations or their association with particular attorneys who Trump perceives as his adversaries.

Courts last month temporarily halted enforcement of key provisions of both orders, but the firms are in court Wednesday asking for the edicts to be struck down in their entirety and for judges to issue rulings in their favor. Another firm, Jenner & Block, is expected to make similar arguments next week.

“Although Perkins Coie did not bring this suit lightly, it was compelled to do so to preserve its ability to continue representing the best interests of its clients,” lawyers for Perkins Coie wrote in a filing ahead of the hearing. “The Constitution does not permit our elected leaders, from any party, to punish lawyers by fiat for representing clients who oppose their political agendas. It would set a grave precedent for our Republic if the Order were allowed to stand.”

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/trump-law-firms-perkins-coie-wilmerhale-7dba5f0c38ac547bf3f2bb1f31a2ef38

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1. Deadline: Legal Blog-Judge slams DOJ in Perkins Coie lawsuit over 'temper tantrum'

President Donald Trump’s efforts to target law firms he doesn’t like aren’t faring well in court.
https://bsky.app/profile/gypsydaveh.bsky.social/post/3lnj67sf57c2o

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/judge-howell-perkins-coie-lawsuit-temper-tantrum-trump-rcna202681

NBC News reported that U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell criticized Justice Department attorney Richard Lawson’s lack of basic information, as well as what she called the DOJ’s “temper tantrum.”

Howell previously granted a temporary restraining order to Perkins Coie, which had argued that Trump’s executive order targeting the firm was “unprecedented” and “unconstitutional from top to bottom.” The president’s March 6 order cited the firm’s “dishonest and dangerous activity” stemming from its association with figures loathed in GOP circles: Hillary Clinton and George Soros. The order sought to restrict the firm’s access to federal buildings and instructed agencies not to engage with its personnel and to terminate contracts held by firm clients.

Howell had previously told government officials to send a memo to agencies telling them about the restraining order. But she didn’t like how they went about it in calling her order “erroneous.” NBC News reported that the Obama appointee said that it struck her as a “temper tantrum” worthy of a 3-year-old, not the Justice Department.

Of course, that’s not what any lawyer want to hear about a client. But beyond the theatrics, the bigger problem is that Howell and other judges are swiftly ruling against the underlying orders, thus far backing the wisdom of the firms that have chosen to fight back.