US district judges in Maryland have hired top conservative litigator Paul Clement to defend them from a Justice Department lawsuit, according to court filings.
Clement and other attorneys with his firm on Thursday moved to represent the judges. It’s the latest instance of the frequent Supreme Court litigator, well known for taking on conservative causes, facing off with the Trump administration in court.
Clement and his law partner, Erin Murphy, didn’t immediately return requests for comment. A representative for the Maryland district court declined to comment.
The Justice Department last week sued all of the US district judges in Maryland over a standing order that blocked the immediate deportation of detained persons who filed a habeas petition.
The administration alleged that the order is a “particularly egregious example of judicial overreach interfering with Executive Branch prerogatives.”
The court said in the order that it was issued in response to an increase in habeas petitions filed outside of normal business hours from those facing imminent deportation, which had “created scheduling difficulties and resulted in hurried and frustrating hearings.”
US District Judge Thomas Cullen, a Trump appointee in the Western District of Virginia, will preside over the case.
Clement is also representing Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan (D), as she fights federal charges for allegedly helping a migrant evade federal immigration officers.
He also filed a lawsuit on behalf of law firm WilmerHale challenging a Trump executive order that directed federal agencies to end their contracts with the firm’s clients, and strip the firm’s lawyers of security clearances and restrict them from certain federal buildings. A Washington federal trial judge has blocked that order, finding it unconstitutional.
Earlier this year, Clement was tapped by US District Judge Dale Ho in Manhattan to weigh in on the government’s request to dismiss a criminal indictment against New York Mayor Eric Adams. Clement suggested that the judge dismiss the charges with prejudice, or permanently, breaking with the Trump administration’s stance in the case.
United States of America et al v. Russell et al, D. Md., No. 1:25-cv-02029, pro hac vice motion 7/3/25
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