Big Law Mostly Sits Out Industry Response to Trump Orders (2)

Few large law firms joined an amicus brief backing Perkins Coie in its lawsuit against President Donald Trump over an executive order targeting the firm.

None of country’s 25 largest firms signed the friend-of-the-court brief, filed in federal court Friday. A total of eight of the 100 largest players joined the more than 500 firms on the brief, which was organized by Munger Tolles & Olson.

The brief had been billed as a response to Trump’s series of directives targeting firms for their ties to the president’s perceived enemies and work on causes he opposes. Big Law firms have largely remained on the sideline, with a few striking deals with the White House to stay out of the bull’s eye.

“No one wants to put a target on their backs to be the next firm subject to an executive order, and that’s exactly what the office of the president is counting on,” said David Neff, a retired Perkins Coie partner. “If you saw many firms, particularly in the major markets, rise up against these types of orders and give great pushback, I think that would go a long way toward stopping the madness.”

Chart by Phil Kuntz/Bloomberg

Arnold & Porter, Freshfields, Fenwick & West, Susman Godfrey, Crowell & Moring, and Davis Wright Tremaine were among the large firms signing the brief.

“Davis Wright Tremaine believes in the constitutional right of clients to choose their counsel and the independence of the legal profession,” the firm said on its LinkedIn page.

Most of the big firms wouldn’t sign unless a critical mass of peers did so as well.

‘Grave Threat’

The brief, authored by Munger Tolles partner and former solicitor general Donald Verrilli, was filed Friday in US District Court for the District of Columbia.

Trump’s orders “pose a grave threat to our system of constitutional governance and to the rule of law itself,” the firms said. The judiciary should “act with resolve” to stop the president’s overreach of executive authority, they said.

Law firms that signed onto the brief include others that are suing over Trump orders against them—WilmerHale and Jenner & Block. Covington & Burling, whose partner Peter Koski was the subject of a Trump memorandum for his representation of former special counsel Jack Smith, also signed.

“Any controversial representation challenging actions of the current administration (or even causes it disfavors) now brings with it the risk of devastating retaliation,” the firms’ said. “Whatever short term advantage an administration may gain from exercising power in this way, the rule of law cannot long endure in the climate of fear that such actions create.”

The executive order against Perkins Coie was the second in a string of five actions aimed at punishing law firms with ties to past cases against Trump that the president has referred to as “weaponization” of the legal system. The orders that restrict security clearances, limit access to federal buildings and cut federal contracts for firm clients have also hit firms including Paul Weiss, Jenner & Block and WilmerHale.

Perkins Coie sued in response to the Trump order on March 11, represented by a team at Williams & Connolly. Perkins won a temporary restraining order that halted parts of the order.

Some firms—Paul Weiss, Skadden, Willkie and Milbank—hatched deals with Trump to evade the impacts of his orders in exchange for $340 million in pro bono legal services to Trump-supported causes.

California’s Hanson Bridgett also signed the brief. Managing partner Kristina Lawson said signing the brief was the “right thing to do.”

“It’s really very simple,” Lawson said in a statement. “Our oath as attorneys demands we defend the rule of law, protect judicial independence, and ensure all lawyers can fulfill their duties without interference or intimidation.”

In a statement Friday, Munger Tolles said, “The executive orders recently issued against prominent law firms raise important issues for our courts to decide. We are honored to participate together with so many of our colleagues in the legal profession in the submission of this brief.”

The case is: Perkins Coie v. U.S. Department of Justice, D.D.C., 1:25-cv-00716, 4/4/25