Trump Flip Flop in Law Firm Fights Fuels ‘Intimidation’ Suit (1)

The Trump administration’s sudden reversal in its fight over executive orders targeting law firms shows the president is continuing his “intimidation policy,” the American Bar Association told a judge Wednesday.

“The last 48 hours is proof that the administration is doubling down on this policy,” ABA attorney Stephen Shackelford said during a hearing in Washington.

The group is suing the administration over what it describes as a broadside attack on lawyers and firms. The suit focuses on executive orders that Trump last year issued against four firms: Perkins Coie, Susman Godfrey, WilmerHale, and Jenner & Block.

The hearing came a day after an about-face from the administration, with DOJ reversing a move to drop its appeals of court rulings striking down Trump’s orders against the firms. DOJ has not explained what prompted the sudden change of heart—after moving to bow out of the cases on Monday—saying only that it would continue fighting to overturn the rulings.

DOJ lawyer Abhishek Kambli said Wednesday that the backtracking on the appeals isn’t relevant to the ABA suit, filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. Kambli urged District Judge Amir Ali to dismiss the suit because the ABA doesn’t have standing to pursue claims based on hypothetical speculation that Trump may issue additional orders targeting law firms.

Kambli, a deputy associate attorney general, is also representing the administration in the separate appeals. The former deputy attorney general for Kansas has defended the administration in high-profile deportation and other cases.

The ABA sued the administration in June, challenging what it called Trump’s “law firm intimidation policy.” The executive orders have created “a chill over the whole of the legal profession,” according to the ABA. The group alleged that Trump’s attacks have prompted some unnamed firms to rethink the cases and clients they take on.

Shackleford is part of a team of lawyers from Susman Godfrey that is representing the ABA in the case. He was a lead litigator in a $787.5 million defamation suit against Fox Corp. by Dominion Voting Systems Inc. over the news network’s statements about the 2020 presidential election.

Ali peppered the Justice Department with questions about the timeline of events since Trump began issuing the orders and the White House negotiated deals with nine other firms to avoid similar actions.

The judge queried ABA lawyers about why the group, rather than law firms targeted by Trump, is taking up the suit.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“The ABA is pleased at our Counsel’s ability to speak to the issues raised,” Michelle Behnke, the group’s president, said in a statement.

The case is American Bar Association v. Executive Office of the President, D.D.C., 1:25-cv-01888, 3/4/26