Two major law firms faced judges Wednesday to ask for decisive relief from President Trump’s executive orders aimed at undercutting their business as retribution for representing his political adversaries.
The firms, Perkins Coie and WilmerHale, say Trump’s orders “addressing risks” they purportedly pose to the country are unlawful and spell disaster for their ability to perform legal work involving the government.
They’re among a small handful of Big Law firms fighting back against Trump’s pointed attacks on the legal industry, especially focused on those who have represented Democratic interests or are associated with attorneys the president believes are against him.
Six firms have been named in executive orders, but only four have filed legal action challenging the directives: Perkins Coie, WilmerHale, Susman Godfrey and Jenner & Block. Other firms, targeted or not, have struck deals with the president to be spared or silently accepted the penalty.
Perkins Coie, which has long drawn Trump’s ire for advising Hillary Clinton during her 2016 presidential campaign and working with an opposition research firm tied to the discredited Steele dossier, was targeted in an executive order early last month.
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