In RE Executive Orders Targeting Law Firms

Co-counsel relationships with members of the private bar are key to advancing reproductive health, rights, and justice. In 2025 and 2026, the Lawyering Project joined four separate amicus briefs in federal district courts and one in the U.S. Court of Appeals raising constitutional concerns about recent executive orders targeting law firms. The briefs explain that penalizing firms for the clients they represent or the positions they take—especially in pro bono matters—violates core First Amendment protections and undermines the independence of the legal profession. 

Drawing on historical examples, the briefs place these executive actions within a broader pattern of government efforts to suppress disfavored advocacy by targeting the lawyers themselves. They point to episodes such as resistance to school desegregation and the injustice of Korematsu v. United States to caution against judicial deference to vague claims of national security or political necessity. The amici emphasize that the stakes extend beyond any individual firm: at issue is the ability of lawyers—including those representing marginalized communities—to advocate freely without fear of retaliation. Protecting that freedom is essential to safeguarding constitutional rights and the rule of law.

Susman Godfrey LLP v. Executive Office of the President et al., (United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (No. 1:25-cv-01107-LLA))

Jenner & Block LLP v. United States Department of Justice, et al., (United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (No. 1:25-cv-00916-JDB))

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP v Executive Office of the President et al., (United States District Court for the District of Columbia (No. 1:25-cv-00917-RJL))

Perkins Coie LLP v. United States Department of Justice, et al., (United States District Court for the District of Columbia (No. 1:25-cv-00716-BAH))

Perkins Coie LLP v. United States Department of Justice, et al., (United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (Nos. 25-5241, 25-5265, 25-5277, 25-5310))