Paul Clement Hired By WilmerHale, Jenner & Block And Perkins Coie In Lawsuits Against US President Donald Trump
The orders allegedly nullified contracts and restricted access to federal buildings;
Paul Clement Hired By WilmerHale, Jenner & Block And Perkins Coie In Lawsuits Against US President Donald Trump
The orders allegedly nullified contracts and restricted access to federal buildings
Prestigious law firms, including Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, Jenner & Block, and Perkins Coie, have filed lawsuits against US President Donald Trump’s administration's executive orders targeting their practices and clients.
The orders allegedly cancelled their contracts and restricted access to federal buildings.
The firms claimed that the orders violated the U.S. Constitution, especially the free speech. They retained a former Tesla general counsel, a longtime conservative litigator and other top lawyers to represent them.
While veteran conservative and Supreme Court attorney Paul Clement represents WilmerHale, the Silicon Valley-founded Cooley LLP acts for Jenner & Block.
On 11 March, Williams & Connolly’s 14 partners signed a lawsuit by Perkins Coie, the first such against the White House’s crackdown. The law firm’s team included Dane Butswinkas, who was briefly the top lawyer at Elon Musk's electric vehicle maker, Tesla.
Meanwhile, there’s a rift in the legal profession over whether and how to fight against the administration in its pursuit of firms for their work for Trump's Democratic adversaries and their internal diversity policies.
Several large law firms with significant corporate clients have not made public statements. However, thousands of individual lawyers, the American Bar Association and other legal groups have openly criticized the government’s move.
Prominent Wall Street law firms - Paul Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom complied with the White House to avoid similar directives.
In a recent statement, WilmerHale's attorney, Paul Clement, said the lawsuit was "absolutely critical to vindicate the First Amendment, our adversarial system of justice, and the rule of law."
Meanwhile, Perkins Coie, WilmerHale and Jenner & Block have told the judges that the executive orders were retaliatory and unlawful.
In its lawsuit, Perkins Coie said it had lost a major government contractor as a client, and others were considering leaving the firm. The firms predicted harm to their reputations, hurting revenue and the ability to recruit and retain employees.
Meanwhile, the White House stated that Trump's executive orders against law firms were “lawful directives to ensure that the President's agenda is implemented, and the law firms comply with it.”
Clement, who served as Solicitor-General during the administration of George W. Bush, a Republican, claimed there were over 100 cases before the high court.
In 2022, Clement launched a small firm, Clement & Murphy, after splitting with Kirkland & Ellis over its decision of not representing clients in gun-rights litigation.
Cooley's legal team for Chicago-founded Jenner & Block includes Michael Attanasio, a lead trial lawyer for pro baseball star Roger Clemens in 2012, when he defeated federal charges that he lied about using performance-enhancing drugs.
In 2022, Musk posted on Twitter (now X), singling out Cooley and Perkins Coie. He stated they were made up of "white-shoe lawyers" who "thrive on corruption."
Butswinkas of Williams & Connolly served as Tesla’s general counsel for several months, returning to the firm in 2019.
Even as the litigation is pending, three judges in the lawsuits blocked key parts of the executive orders.
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