The Fallout from Trump’s Executive Orders Targeting Law Firms: How the Legal Industry is Realigning

Back in April, we shared the news that the Trump Administration had issued various executive orders targeting law firms across the country. Beeman & Muchmore, along with more than 500 law firms, announced that it joined the amicus curiae filings in three separate actions against the Trump administration, filed by the law firms Trump has targeted to date – Perkins Coie, WilmerHale, Jenner & Block. All three lawsuits were filed in the U.S. District Court, District of Columbia.

We continue to believe that it is not hyperbolic to suggest that the Trump Administration’s assault on these and other law firms represents the single greatest threat in recent memory to the bedrock separation of powers our democracy rests upon and, further, the crucial role that the judiciary plays in maintaining the rule of law. 

According to the New York Times:

The brief has become a test of mettle among lawyers, who checked it to see which big names were willing to stand up publicly to Mr. Trump. Not many, it turned out. Only eight of the nation’s top 100 firms signed the brief, including WilmerHale, Susman Godfrey, Jenner & Block and Covington & Burling, all of which were also targeted by Mr. Trump’s executive orders and sued to block them.

The vast majority of signers are far smaller. Karen C. Burgess, a commercial litigator with her own firm in Austin, Texas, said she signed because the executive orders “blew my mind,” reminding her of McCarthy-era blacklists. “They got the chilling effect they hoped for.”

“Everywhere there’s a courthouse, there’s a lawyer,” she said. “We’re small and mighty in numbers, and willing to cause discomfort if necessary.”

It is shocking to us how few of the biggest firms in the US chose not to participate in the amicus curiae filings. Further shocking still: how many targeted firms caved in to the administration and reached punishing and humiliating settlements. To wit, eight legal industry giants (coincidentally, and depressingly, the same number of big law firms that joined the amicus filing), among them Kirkland & Ellis and Paul Weiss, promised up to $1 billion in pro bono work aligned with administration causes.

These settlements and capitulations came at a cost – as we believe they should – creating divisions within some of the most prestigious firms. Multiple corporations, including Morgan Stanley, Microsoft, and McDonald’s, have begun distancing themselves from firms that chose to bow to the Trump Administration’s orders, with trust being the main issue. In addition, younger associates have quit and senior partners have left, begging the very valid question: If a firm would not or could not defend itself, how could it be trusted to defend clients?

The answer is simplicity itself. It can’t be trusted. Again, from the Times:

But as opponents of the White House’s policies organized to fight Mr. Trump in court on a vast range of actions and policies, they quickly found that they did not need to rely on Big Law. Instead, an army of solo practitioners, former government litigators and small law firms stepped up to volunteer their time to challenge the administration’s agenda.

“I don’t know if the administration knew how many little guys are out there,” said Michael H. Ansell, a solo practitioner in Morristown, N.J., who earlier this year joined the Pro Bono Litigation Corps, newly launched by Lawyers for Good Government, a legal nonprofit. He answered the nonprofit’s plea for lawyers willing to give at least 20 hours a week to an upcoming case. More than 80 volunteered.

Meanwhile, firms that resisted the Administration’s pressure are now benefiting from standing their ground. Judges have ruled against several executive orders, declaring them unconstitutional.  And it appears that new work is flowing from the firms that capitulated to the firms that stood their ground as in-house counsels from top companies seek to reward firms they view as principled.

The power that smaller firms and lawyers hold is not lost on Abbe Lowell, a prominent trial lawyer who left a top law firm to start his own smaller firm. He stated in the Times piece:

“When this administration came into power, they were bragging about their strategy to flood the zone”, he said. “It turns out that the legal community is flooding the zone and they’re the ones that can’t keep up. That gives me motivation every day, and hope.”

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Thankfully – to date – none of Trump’s executive orders targeting specific law firms has survived judicial scrutiny, with federal judges consistently blocking their enforcement through temporary restraining orders or injunctions.

We are proud that Beeman & Muchmore was described as among the law firms who “stood up against (the Trump) administration’s attacks” in a list that was compiled by the Coalition for Justice, a grassroots organization of law students monitoring events and gathering data during these unprecedented times in the legal industry.

We at Beeman & Muchmore remain committed to our belief that justice must be blind to politics and that no law firm or legal professional should be punished based on political bias and retribution.

Published on July 28, 2025