The country's legal profession is divided between those who want to fight back on President Trump's industry and those who prefer to engage in the art of dealing.
The two large companies sued the Trump administration on Friday, attempting to stop an executive order that could undermine their ability to represent their clients. The lawsuit filed by Jenner & Block and Wilmerhale has cut deals to appease the president, while some elite companies are willing to fight Trump's campaign targeting people he hates, while others like Paul Weiss and Scudden have cut deals to appease the president.
Over the past few weeks, Trump has issued similarly style executive orders for businesses he perceives as enemies and threats to national security. The order could create an existential crisis for businesses as it strips lawyers of security clearance, prohibits them from entering federal buildings and blocks federal officials from interacting with businesses.
“We are truly at heart to the fact that Jenner and Wilmer are joining Perkins to push back these illegal executive orders. It shows that surrender is not the only route.” “In the long run, we will strengthen our reputation in the market as strong supporters of the quality that many clients cherish.”
Jenner & Bullock said in a statement that the lawsuit was “intended to stop an unconstitutional enforcement order already declared illegal by federal courts.” The third company, Perkins Coie, sued the Trump administration over the same issue and was early in suing the executive order.
Jenner & Block also published a file for the Jenner Stands Firm -hird and created a website to highlight newspaper editorials criticizing executive orders and comments from law school professors questioning the legality of Trump's actions.
On Friday evening, U.S. District Court Judge John Bates in Washington issued a temporary restraining order banning the Trump administration from punishing Jenner and Bullock. The judge called some of the executive orders criticizing the legal work of the Bible that the organization does against “intrusive” and “troubling” organizations.
Later Friday, another federal judge in Washington, Richard Leon, issued a temporary restraining order granting much of the relief Wilmelhale had sought from the executive order against it.
The efforts to fight back in public ways are in stark contrast to the way other companies handled Trump's campaign against them.
Also on Friday, Trump told reporters that the White House had reached deals with Scaden, ARPS, Slate, Meagher and From. Skaden and Trump signed the deal after the law firm reached behind the scenes and stepped away from filing executive orders against it.
“I'm extremely grateful that they're coming to the table,” Trump said.
In a statement, Skadden added, “We have actively collaborated with the President and his team to reach this contract by working constructively together,” the company added that the contract is “in the best interests of our clients, our people, our company.”
Last week, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison announced an agreement that Trump has pledged to represent his clients regardless of political trends and withdrew the executive order against the law firm in exchange for pledging $40 million in legal services to issues he defended.
Paul Weiss signed the contract within days of Trump's executive order after the company's chairman, Brad Carp, flew from New York for an oval office meeting with the president and his staff. Carp said in an email to the company that if a client from a large Paul Weiss company stuck with the company “loss of government contracts and loss of access to government.”
Karp threw the deal in a move to save Paul Weiss, who employs around 2,000 people. He also accused that other law firms had not come out to support Paul Weiss.
However, the deal was widely criticized. A company with Democrats in stock that opposed Trump was seen as bent over the president to protect its revenues.
“The majority of this is a business decision being made by law firms,” said Rebecca Royfe, a former prosecutor and professor at the New York School of Claus, a legal ethics specialist. “These companies calculate how their clients feel they are in line with their decisions.”
Trump is chasing large law firms who claim to have “weaponized” the legal system. He initially targets law firms that hired lawyers who were once involved in investigating many of his actions during his first presidential term.
The executive order assumes Trump's notion that partisan representation and pro bono work at law firms could pose a threat to national security for groups he disagrees with.
White House spokesman Harrison Fields said in a statement: “The Democrats and their law firms armed the legal process of trying to punish and imprison their political enemies. The president's executive order is a legitimate direction to ensure that the president's agenda is implemented and that the law firm is in compliance with the law.”
The lawsuit by Jenner & Block has been filed in federal court in Washington, and the company is asking judges to step in immediately and suspend executive orders that have been levelled by Trump this week. The company is represented by another law firm, Cooley. The lawsuit has named many government agencies and officials as defendants.
Wilmer Hale filed a lawsuit in the same federal court and is represented by Attorney General Paul Clement during President George W. Bush's administration.
Jenner & Block and Wilmerhale represent some of the nation's largest companies and often deal with regulatory issues in front of government agencies. Jenner & Block is one of Wilmerhale's major clients, JP Morgan Chase.
The executive order accused the company of “engaging in obvious partisan expressions to achieve its political objectives,” and the company “compared to other categories prohibited by civil rights laws, including discriminating against employees based on race and using racially-based “targets.” “He insisted.
Executive orders against both Jenner & Block and Wilmerhale have largely focused on the work of lawyers conducting federal investigations into Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and its relationship with Russia. The investigation was led by special advisor to King Robert S. Mueller III, a former director of the FBI who was Wilmer Hale's partner.
One of Mueller's top assistants in the investigation was Andrew Weissman, a longtime federal prosecutor and former partner of Jenner & Brock.
Both Mueller and Weissmann rejoined their company after the investigation was completed. The lawyer left the company in 2021. However, Wilmerhael's website has a page dedicated to a lengthy interview with Mueller, who normally hates the media, discussing his “amazing life and career.”
The Jenner & Block complaint said Trump's actions were unconstitutional and that more than 500 lawyers would compromise their ability to “affirm their clients.”
The lawsuit noted that Trump's deal with Paul Weiss does not include any new security measures imposed on the company.
In a statement, Wilmer Hale, with around 1,000 lawyers, said the president's executive order was “a clear illegal attack on the bedrock principles of our country's legal system.
Perkins Koy, one of the first law firms to target, sued him earlier this month. A federal judge temporarily suspends Trump's orders, adding that it is likely illegal, “it will hardly make my spine cold.”
Banita Gupta, a civil rights lawyer and former senior Justice Department official for the Biden and Obama administration, said new lawsuits are needed in an era of danger in the legal profession.
“The only way through this attack on the very foundations of our legal system is to fight back,” Gupta said. “If businesses want to be trusted to fight the biggest battle, they should not be caves with blatantly unconstitutional government actions.”
She praised the three companies fighting the administration, saying she hoped others would do the same, as “group action is the only way to pull out at this moment.”
Trump's executive order against Paul Weiss was motivated by the fact that former partners of the company are working with the Manhattan District Attorney's office to file a criminal lawsuit against Trump after losing the 2020 election.
One pattern of executive orders is to chase after a law firm that hired lawyers Trump considers as his personal enemy. One of them was Weissman, who often assaulted him on his social media platform, Truth Social.
Weissman has a reputation as an active investigator. In recent years he has emerged as a public critic of Trump, frequently appearing on MSNBC, providing legal analysis of the extent of the charges Trump faced for his actions.
In the complaint, the company said Weissmann had not worked for it since 2021. He also said there were prominent lawyers from all political parties.
Tyler Pager contributed the report.
