Legal Fraternity Rallies Against President Trump Orders Targeting Top Law Firms

Hundreds of law firms, partners, corporate legal leaders and US law students have urged a US appeals court not to revive executive orders issued by Donald Trump targeting four prominent law firms, arguing that a victory for Trump would undermine the independence of the legal profession.

More than 800 firms submitted a friend-of-the-court brief to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday in support of Perkins Coie, WilmerHale, Jenner & Block and Susman Godfrey. The court is set to hear the government’s appeal next month after judges struck down the executive orders against the four firms last year, finding that Trump’s directives violated protections for free speech and due process under the US Constitution.

Signatories to the brief include Dunn Isaacson Rhee, whose leaders left Paul Weiss in May 2025 after that firm struck a deal with Trump to lift a similar executive order against it. Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick, a long-time outside counsel for Meta, and Arnold & Porter, which has filed a range of lawsuits against the Trump administration, also joined the brief.

Trump’s executive orders accused the law firms of “weaponising” the legal system against him and his allies and of promoting workplace diversity policies he described as discriminatory. The orders sought to bar the firms’ lawyers from accessing federal buildings and to terminate US government contracts held by their clients.

Dozens of current and former corporate legal department leaders also submitted an amicus brief in the D.C. Circuit on Friday, including Stephen Cutler. They argued that Trump’s orders undermined companies’ ability to freely choose external counsel. Other signatories included Dorian Daley and Robert Chesnut.

A group of current and former partners at major US law firms filed a separate brief under the name Law Firm Partners United. The group, which did not identify its members, said the consequences of being singled out by the president were severe. “The stigma of being named by the President as a law firm acting against critical American interests cannot be overstated,” the brief said.

Support for the firms also came from more than 1,200 law students and 50 student organisations, who said in an amicus brief that Trump’s actions had harmed those seeking to enter the profession.

Five conservative groups, including the Gun Owners Foundation, filed a brief backing the administration. The groups argued that the district court judges who struck down the executive orders had not adequately addressed the basis for Trump’s actions.

The D.C. Circuit, which includes seven active judges appointed by Democratic presidents and four appointed by Republicans, is scheduled to hear arguments on May 14. It has not yet named the three-judge panel that will hear the case.

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