Jenner And WilmerHale Go For Blood In Fight Over Biglaw Executive Orders

Follow up to Trump Using Another Executive Order to Take Revenge on Law Firms – Above the Law – Jenner & Block and WilmerHale are still fighting the good fight against the respective Trumpian Executive Orders the firms are facing. Both notched early court victories, earning temporary restraining orders against the enforcement of key provisions of the EOs. But they’re hoping to make it permanent with recent court filings, available [as embedded documents for download]. For those who are anxious for Biglaw to stand up to the attacks against the rule of law, the briefs are quite the enjoyable read. The Jenner filing throws some well-deserved shade at Paul Weiss and their bargain with the devil Trump, noting Paul Weiss agreed to “engage in a remarkable change of course … to align itself with the administration’s priorities and viewpoints, and to denounce a former partner who had investigated the president.” “Other law firms have followed suit, on bended knee,” Jenner said. “The settlements have allowed him to ‘build an unrivaled network of Lawyers’ to advance not the interests of their own clients, but instead the government’s chosen agenda,” referencing Trump’s boasts post-Milbank deal. And the firm is seeking the entirety of the EO be enjoined. “The Order should be declared unlawful and permanently enjoined in full because it reflects a single, unified policy sanctioning Jenner for constitutionally protected activity. The Order pulls nearly every lever at the government’s disposal to limit Jenner’s effective advocacy for its clients. The government has argued that the Order must be analyzed provision by provision…The government is wrong that any aspect of the Order is lawful.” WilmerHale’s filing sought similar, with a firm spokesperson saying, “Today our firm filed a motion to permanently block the Administration’s unlawful Executive Order attacking our firm. We take this step as part of our steadfast commitment to protecting our firm, our people, and – above all – our clients.” While the brief argues, “Putting law firms to the choice of suffering punitive sanctions for disfavored representations or agreeing to dedicate tens of millions of dollars to representations favored by the government is viewpoint discrimination pure and simple.  In short, retaliatory animus and viewpoint discrimination infect every aspect of this Order, severely abridging and chilling constitutionally protected speech, association, and petitioning activity. Wilmer’s briefing also notes the overarching harm caused by the order, “The public interest, moreover, cuts sharply in favor of permanently enjoining this Order, which poses a grave threat not only to WilmerHale but also to our Nation’s constitutional order and ‘the justice system at large.’”

Simply put, blacklisting and sanctioning law firms for representing the President’s political opponents, devoting resources to causes the President dislikes, or hiring attorneys who have investigated the President is anathema to our constitutional order.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the caption, the government filed motions to dismiss in both the lawsuits brought by Jenner and WilmerHale, arguing the EOs are “straightforwardly legal.”