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    For God’s Sake, Fellow Lawyers, Stand Up to Trump

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    President Trump this month issued an executive order clearly intended to destroy the venerable law firm Perkins Coie, a firm that has zealously represented clients large and small for more than a century.The order left no doubt that Perkins Coie’s primary offense was representing Hillary Clinton in 2016 and standing up for other causes Mr. Trump views unfavorably. It could not have been more blatantly unconstitutional than if a legal scholar had been asked to draft a template for an unlawful executive order: It violates the First Amendment, contravenes fundamental due process rights and imperils the Sixth Amendment right to counsel.On March 11, the courageous and skillful law firm Williams & Connolly filed a lawsuit on Perkins Coie’s behalf, seeking to enjoin the president’s order on constitutional grounds. At a hearing the next day, Judge Beryl A. Howell of Federal District Court in Washington issued an order temporarily barring enforcement of most of the order. The Justice Department responded by moving to disqualify Judge Howell, a motion she rejected in a withering opinion on Wednesday.Our firm stands with Perkins Coie and all firms and lawyers who fight against this president’s lawless executive actions. That’s why we’ve called on other firms to join us in submitting a friend of the court brief in support of Perkins Coie.If lawyers and law firms won’t stand up for the rule of law, who will?Beyond the Perkins Coie executive order, Mr. Trump has issued similar, and equally unlawful, executive orders directed at other law firms that have represented causes or people he doesn’t like, including because they have sued him, investigated him or contributed in some way to civil and criminal legal matters brought against him. That includes executive orders in recent days targeting the firms WilmerHale and Jenner & Block. He also issued a memorandum directed across the board at lawyers and law firms that have taken on causes he disfavors, including the pro bono representation of political asylum seekers.We applaud Jenner & Block’s and WilmerHale’s lawsuits, filed Friday, challenging the administration’s executive orders.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Trump Administration Questions Law Firms Over DEI Employment Practices

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      President Trump’s acting chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Monday sent letters to 20 law firms requesting information about their diversity, equity and inclusion-related employment practices, the latest Trump administration assault on private law firms.In letters to prominent firms, including Perkins Coie, Latham & Watkins, Kirkland & Ellis and Sidley Austin, the commission, a federal agency responsible for protecting employees from discrimination, said it was concerned that some of the firms’ employment practices might violate civil rights laws. The agency suggested in the letters that the firms, in trying to recruit more people of color, could have discriminated against white candidates.“The E.E.O.C. is prepared to root out discrimination anywhere it may rear its head, including in our nation’s elite law firms,” Andrea R. Lucas, the acting chair, said in a statement on Monday. “No one is above the law — and certainly not the private bar.”The letters come amid Mr. Trump’s recent retribution campaign against several prominent law firms, which the president has accused of carrying out “harmful activity.” This month, Mr. Trump issued an executive order aimed at crippling Perkins Coie, a firm that worked with Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. He also revoked security clearances held by any lawyers at Covington & Burling who were helping provide legal advice to Jack Smith, the special counsel who led investigations into him.Last week, the president also restricted the business activities of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, specifically calling out one of its former lawyers, Mark F. Pomerantz, who had attempted to build a criminal case against Mr. Trump while working at the Manhattan district attorney’s office several years ago.Mr. Trump has taken aggressive measures to eliminate D.E.I. efforts — which he has called “illegal and immoral discrimination” programs — outside the legal profession, too. E.E.O.C. leaders have signaled recently that they would prioritize rooting out “DEI-motivated race and sex discrimination” to comply with Mr. Trump’s orders.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More