Trump’s War on Law Firms Fails
Judge puts the kibosh on Trump’s attempt to silence a law firm: Yesterday, Judge Richard J. Leon of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting the law firm WilmerHale. “Judges have already rejected similarly punitive executive orders aimed at the firms Perkins Coie and Jenner & Block, and lawyers representing Susman Godfrey asked a fourth judge earlier this month to issue a final decision in their case,” notes The New York Times, but many firms—Willkie Farr & Gallagher; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Milbank; Kirkland & Ellis; Latham & Watkins; A&O Shearman; Simpson Thacher & Bartlett; and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft—have struck deals with the administration, typically forcing them to provide a certain amount of pro bono legal work related to causes that the Trump administration supports.
WilmerHale originally attracted Trump’s attention because it had represented “inspectors general alleging that President Trump improperly fired them; the House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means in litigation resulting in President Trump’s disclosure of his personal tax returns; the Joe Biden and Kamala Harris campaigns in election litigation; and the Democratic National Committee and state-level Democratic Party organizations in lawsuits brought by the Donald Trump campaign challenging the results of the 2020 presidential election,” reads the ruling. And Robert S. Mueller, who led investigations into possible Russian interference in the 2016 election, has also had a longstanding affiliation with WilmerHale, returning to the firm time and time again during breaks from government service over the last 32 years.
Another federal judge STRIKES DOWN Trump’s order targeting a law firm for political retribution — this time, using exclamation marks twice in the introduction to emphasize that the executive order is against the Founding Fathers’ vision.
Doc https://t.co/p7aOo6wZ5O pic.twitter.com/RhG1ubRbIQ
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) May 27, 2025
The order would have directed federal agencies to cancel all contracts with WilmerHale and would have barred WilmerHale employees from being hired by the federal government or communicating with government employees. Lawyers with the firm would have been banned from entering any and
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