Ex-DOJ Lawyers Aim to Fight Trump on Federal Worker Firings (1)

Two former Justice Department litigators opened a new law firm to represent fired federal workers.

Clayton Bailey and Jessica Samuels announced the launch of DC-based Civil Service Law Center on Tuesday. Bailey and Samuels, who earlier this year left posts as DOJ litigators, previously worked as associates at Washington law firm Covington & Burling.

“Although there are a number of excellent lawyers working in this space already, the sheer scale calls for more help,” Bailey said.

President Donald Trump has made slashing the federal payroll a priority in his return to the White House. More than 100,000 federal workers have been fired or took resignation incentives to leave since Trump began his second term. The president’s efforts faced a setback this month when a DC federal judge upheld employees’ collective bargaining rights while disputes play out in courts.

Some labor and employment lawyers have seen a surge in demand for advice from federal workers since Trump’s November election win.

Executive orders targeting law firms for ties to Trump’s legal and political opponents have made some lawyers fear that challenging the administration will result in punitive actions against them, Bailey said.

WilmerHale, former professional home to former special counsel Robert Mueller, is representing fired inspectors general in a suit against the Trump administration to restore their jobs. The firm was targeted by a Trump executive order and later sued to enjoin it.

Covington was the first firm targeted by Trump with a directive scrapping security clearances for lawyers who assisted former special counsel Jack Smith’s probes of the US Capitol attack and the president’s alleged mishandling of sensitive government documents. Three other law firms are in court fighting executive orders that also threaten their lawyers’ access to federal buildings and their clients government contracts. A fourth, Perkins Coie, won a permanent injunction blocking the executive order against it.

Bailey views his firm as non-partisan.

“I have always believed throughout my entire career in the important role that lawyers play in protecting individual rights and making sure the law is followed,” Bailey said.

Bailey worked in DOJ’s federal programs branch, defending Biden-era policies, before leaving the department in February. Samuels most recently served as an appellate attorney in the civil rights division, where roughly 70% of lawyers are leaving or were reassigned in recent months.

The launch of Civil Service Law Center is the latest example of a law firm created to address legal disputes that have arisen in the second Trump presidency. Former Winston & Strawn lawyer Abbe Lowell announced his new firm last week to represent political targets of President Trump, like whistleblower lawyer Mark Zaid and New York attorney general Letitia James.

Bailey said he hopes to grow this new firm. But for the moment, the two are focused on netting new client relationships and bringing their cases to court.