The legal community is banding together to show their support for Perkins Coie’s lawsuit against the Trump administration.
The New York Times reported on Friday that more than 500 firms signed an amicus brief outlining why the president’s targeting of law firms to do his bidding is “a grave threat to our system of constitutional governance and to the rule of law itself.” A total of 504 companies signed the brief, though none of the nation’s 20 largest firms were among them.
After Trump slapped an executive order on Perkins Coie, threatening its business, the firm sued. A handful of others have as well, while some firms have opted to cave to Trump’s demands for pro bono work, among other things.
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Nearly 10 firms on The American Lawyer’s list of the 100 most profitable ones ended up signing, according to the Times, which reported that some firms’ decisions not to sign didn’t mean they opposed it in principle. Rather, some allegedly feared that signing would only make them a target for the president, and therefore cost them clients.
The brief, drawn up by Donald Verrilli, a solicitor general during the Obama administration, and Chicago lawyer Nathan Eimer, warned about Trump’s continued threats against the legal community.
“Unless the judiciary acts decisively now, what was once beyond the pale will in short order become a stark reality,” it said. “Corporations and individuals alike will risk losing their right to be represented by the law firms of their choice and a profound chill will be cast over the First Amendment right to petition the courts for redress.”
