Judge Blocks Trump’s Executive Order Against Susman Godfrey (1)

A DC federal judge on Tuesday temporarily barred the Trump administration from enforcing an executive order targeting law firm Susman Godfrey.

The ruling halts most of President Donald Trump’s April 9 order, which directed agencies to restrict firm employees from accessing federal buildings and threatened Susman Godfrey clients’ federal contracts.

Judge Loren AliKhan said the US didn’t show the law firm is a national security threat or back up Trump’s claims that Susman Godfrey leads efforts to “weaponize” the legal system and works to “undermine” military effectiveness. The firm showed it is likely to succeed on claims that the order is unconstitutional on free speech and due process grounds, she said.

The decision marks the fourth time, after Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block and WilmerHale, that a judge has blocked a Trump executive order targeting a law firm.

Trump’s order is a “vindictive, retaliatory” measure and serves as a “direct assault” on the independence of the judiciary, said Donald Verrilli, a lawyer for Munger, Tolles & Olson who argued before AliKhan on behalf of Susman Godfrey.

Richard Lawson, on behalf of the Justice Department, said the Trump order was not necessarily a sanction or a punishment, and that more time was needed for the administration to issue guidance before the judge could make any determinations.

AliKhan said the order’s reference to Susman’s election work appeared to be related to the firm’s representation of Dominion Voting Systems Inc. in a massive defamation lawsuit against Fox Corp. The media company agreed to pay a $787.5 million settlement stemming from false claims of a stolen 2020 election. The firm is also pursuing a defamation case against Mike Lindell, a well-known Trump advocate and chief executive officer of MyPillow, on behalf of Dominion.

Trump’s order additionally cited Susman’s diversity programs for law students. Susman hosts a two-week diversity fellowship for first-year law students and also offers $3,500 scholarships to first and second year law students of color.

Nine top law firms including Paul Weiss, Kirkland & Ellis, Willkie Farr and Latham & Watkins reached agreements with Trump to provide at least $940 million worth of pro bono services collectively to avoid executive orders. Some of those firms also resolved Equal Employment Opportunity Commission inquiries into their diversity programs.

The case is Susman Godfrey v. Executive Office of the President, D.D.C., 1:25-cv-01107, 4/15/2025.