Education Lawyers Fired by Trump Start Firm in ‘Chaotic’ Stretch

Three fired Education Department lawyers are the latest to launch a law firm to represent entities affected by President Trump’s wide-ranging changes to government policies.

Deep cuts at the agency under Education Secretary Linda McMahon have created a “chaotic” environment for the types of clients Sligo Law Group now seeks to advise—K-12 public and private schools, higher learning institutions, and educational trade groups—according to the firm’s founders.

Emily Merolli

Emily Merolli, formerly a lawyer in the department’s office of general counsel who was let go with two other co-founders in March, said the new firm aims to help clients guard their claim to the federal purse, comply with incoming regulatory and statutory changes, and develop best policy practices.

“We wanted to be able to structure a firm that didn’t feel like a traditional law firm and allows us to prioritize benefiting the holistic system,” said Merolli, who was a Perkins Coie associate earlier in her career.

The firm doesn’t have any clients yet, Merolli said, but the trio aim to draw on their connections to school districts. The lawyers, who are working remotely, plan to offer rates lower than typical among Big Law firms, she said.

The founding partners—Merolli, Jill Siegelbaum, and Josie Eskow Skinner—worked in the office of general counsel before they were shown the door as part of a mass reduction in force that saw 50% of the entire agency depart in March.

As a lawyer in the general counsel’s division of legislative counsel for nearly 13 years, Merolli helped devise education-related legislation. Siegelbaum was an attorney in the department for 20 years, most recently serving as assistant general counsel and representing the agency before the Merit Systems Protection Board. Skinner was in the office of general counsel’s division for 10 years, advising on school programs for homeless and migrant students.

The launch of Sligo Law Group, named for the Maryland creek where the founders were walking when they devised the idea for the firm, is the latest example of a firm launched to address legal issues prevalent in President Trump’s second term.

Former DOJ lawyers Clayton Bailey and Jessica Samuels created Civil Service Law Center to spearhead challenges to federal terminations; Washington Litigation Group is a nonprofit litigation shop aiming to curb what its lawyers see as executive overreach; and Lowell & Associates was created to represent the president’s political targets such as Letitia James and Mark Zaid.

Mixed Messages

Trump has given mixed messages about where he seeks to direct the Education Department, at times signaling intentions to dismantle it while also signing legislation to expand some of its programs. The Supreme Court in July lifted a federal judge’s freeze on the president’s plan to slash the department’s workforce.

The administration’s move to withhold $7 billion in K-12 funding in July, cuts to 50% of the department’s staff, and incoming changes from the “One Big Beautiful Bill” are creating an uncertain regulatory and statutory environment for schools, Merolli said.

Although Sligo Law Group is “well positioned” to challenge Trump administration actions in court on behalf of clients losing federal dollars, Merolli said the firm’s primary directive isn’t to take on Trump but to support the country’s education industry. She said this could mean taking their clients’ grievances to litigation if they are denied funding or providing policy guidance.

“Rather than focusing on challenges to the Trump administration directly, our biggest goal is to support education,” Merolli said. “Our commitment to education is our commitment to democracy. Without education, democracy falls apart.”