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LetMyPeopleVote

(178,203 posts) Mon Mar 2, 2026, 03:55 PM 6 hrs ago

Bloomberg Law-Trump to Drop Court Fight Against Law Firms Targeted in Orders

These agreements were never really enforceable. Now Skadden, Paul Weiss and others need to junk these "agreements"

Link to tweet

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and-practice/trump-to-drop-court-fight-against-law-firms-targeted-in-orders

The Justice Department is backing out from a court battle with four major law firms that won rulings blocking President Donald Trump’s executive orders against them.

DOJ plans to drop its appeals of the rulings, according to three sources familiar with the situation. The Wall Street Journal first reported the move.

The administration’s withdrawal would end the litigation over the orders, in which Trump targeted firms for their ties to lawyers he sees as enemies and work on causes he views as adverse to his interests. Four federal judges struck down the orders as unconstitutional in separate rulings last year.

The development would mark a big win for WilmerHale and the three other firms challenging orders against them: Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, and Susman Godfrey. The district court judges who blocked the orders described them as unprecedented efforts to retaliate against the firms.

Trump’s orders revoked lawyers’ security clearances and barred them from entering federal buildings. The president, who said he was fighting back against firms who “weaponize” the justice system, also threatened to cancel government contracts held by the firms’ clients, and ordered investigations of law firm diversity practices.

10 replies

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Highlight:

Bloomberg Law-Trump to Drop Court Fight Against Law Firms Targeted in Orders (Original Post) LetMyPeopleVote 6 hrs ago OP

All the firms that caved will regret it MustLoveBeagles 5 hrs ago #1

Sorry - responded to the wrong post. n/t Ms. Toad 4 hrs ago #2

These are the folks who refused to enter into agreements with him, and sued him instead. Ms. Toad 3 hrs ago #3

I was on weekly conference calls with Marc Elias as part of the Clinton Victory Counsel program LetMyPeopleVote 1 hr ago #6

Not the point I was making. Ms. Toad 1 hr ago #7

Bloomberg Law-Kirkland Pressed by Democrats on Epshteyn's Role in Trump Deal LetMyPeopleVote 1 hr ago #8

'Great villains': Law firms that 'groveled' to Trump scorched as revenge bid dropped LetMyPeopleVote 1 hr ago #9

Unfortunately, a contract is a contract. Ms. Toad 56 min ago #10

MaddowBlog-Justice Department to throw in the towel on Trump's campaign against law firms LetMyPeopleVote 2 hrs ago #4

Bloomberg Law-Kirkland Pressed by Democrats on Epshteyn's Role in Trump Deal LetMyPeopleVote 2 hrs ago #5

MustLoveBeagles

(15,687 posts)

1. All the firms that caved will regret it

Reply to LetMyPeopleVote (Original post)

Mon Mar 2, 2026, 04:34 PM

5 hrs ago

Ms. Toad

(38,484 posts)

2. Sorry - responded to the wrong post. n/t

Reply to MustLoveBeagles (Reply #1)

Mon Mar 2, 2026, 05:49 PM

4 hrs ago

Last edited Mon Mar 2, 2026, 06:28 PM - Edit history (1)

Ms. Toad

(38,484 posts)

3. These are the folks who refused to enter into agreements with him, and sued him instead.

Reply to LetMyPeopleVote (Original post)

Mon Mar 2, 2026, 06:27 PM

3 hrs ago

Those who caved, rather than stand up for democracy, will live in infamy - AND - will still have to abide by the agreements they signed. There might be arguments to render them unenforceable - but that would be another court fight.

LetMyPeopleVote

(178,203 posts)

6. I was on weekly conference calls with Marc Elias as part of the Clinton Victory Counsel program

Reply to Ms. Toad (Reply #3)

Mon Mar 2, 2026, 08:12 PM

1 hr ago

I was also part of the team of lawyers who reviewed 6,000+ lawsuits that Perkin Coie put onto a data base. I was one of the people in the statewide boiler room for the Clinton Victory Counsel program.

Marc is an amazing man.

Ms. Toad

(38,484 posts)

7. Not the point I was making.

Reply to LetMyPeopleVote (Reply #6)

Mon Mar 2, 2026, 08:18 PM

1 hr ago

The DOJ is dropping the cases related to the law firms which did NOT enter into agreements with Trump.

The rest are still on the hook, and until a court says otherwise, the agreements are enforceable.

LetMyPeopleVote

(178,203 posts)

8. Bloomberg Law-Kirkland Pressed by Democrats on Epshteyn's Role in Trump Deal

Reply to Ms. Toad (Reply #7)

Mon Mar 2, 2026, 08:40 PM

1 hr ago

Kirkland & Ellis is facing new questions about its deal with President Donald Trump, including the part that Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn played in landing the agreement.

Link to tweet

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and-practice/kirkland-pressed-by-democrats-on-epshteyns-role-in-trump-deal

Kirkland & Ellis is facing new questions about its deal with President Donald Trump, including the part that Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn played in landing the agreement.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Sens. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) on Monday sent a letter to the law firm, requesting the information. They said Kirkland previously admitted to providing free legal services to federal agencies under the terms of its April deal with Trump, which reportedly involved Epshteyn, but declined to provide any details.

“Kirkland concedes providing free legal work directly after being threatened by the Trump Administration with a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) investigation and the prospect of financial- and access-related penalties that were previously imposed on other law firms,” the lawmakers wrote.....

The trio asked the firm turn over “all records related to your agreement with the Trump administration” as well as “all communications, meeting records, or documents relating to any negotiations with Mr. Epshteyn.”,....

“The involvement of Mr. Boris Epshteyn, a former Trump Administration official, legal fixer, and a Trump co-conspirator to overturn the 2020 presidential election, raises yet further concerns about this arrangement,” the lawmakers wrote. “Epshteyn has been dogged by reports that he solicited illegal pay-to-play schemes in exchange for securing political appointments in the Trump Administration.”

These firms are going to have to defend their agreements with trump

Kirkland is one of the largest firms in the nation and their Houston office has some major league assholes (though one of these assholes just jumped to Paul Weiss). I am glad to see that the law firms who cut deals with trump are being challenged and questioned on those deals

LetMyPeopleVote

(178,203 posts)

9. 'Great villains': Law firms that 'groveled' to Trump scorched as revenge bid dropped

Reply to Ms. Toad (Reply #7)

Mon Mar 2, 2026, 08:41 PM

1 hr ago

The law firms who did NOT cave to trump won. The law firms who caved to trump have suffered some major losses of clients and partners. Now that the DOJ has dropped the silly lawsuit trying to enforce trump's executive orders, I am hoping that the coward law firms will reconsider their "agreements" with trump.

'Great villains': Law firms that 'groveled' to Trump scorched as revenge bid dropped

www.rawstory.com/trump-law-fi...
— Ben Franklin Warned Us (@herobenfranklin.bsky.social) 2026-03-03T00:45:16.500Z

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-law-firms-2675539138/

President Donald Trump's Justice Department backed down on Monday on a huge monthslong legal battle, no longer defending a series of executive orders that attacked prominent law firms that represented anti-Trump clients in the past.

It's a huge victory for the rule of law, voting rights attorney Marc Elias told MS NOW's Nicolle Wallace — but also a huge black eye for the law firms that made deals with Trump to avoid similar regulatory action against them.....

"I think today is going to be remembered as one of the most important days for the opposition movement against Donald Trump," said Elias, who runs both the Elias Law Group and the media outlet Democracy Docket. "Today was the day that the law firms that stood up tall and said to Donald Trump, we will not bow down to you. We will not obey. We will not bend the knee. Today is the day that the Department of Justice ... [stopped fighting] the victory that the law firms had against the Department of Justice. And what that means for everyone listening is that the four law firms that stood their ground, they can proceed on and have government contracts and enter buildings and do all of the things that Donald Trump tried to deny them."

At the same time, he said, "For the 9 or 10 law firms that capitulated and collaborated, they still have to provide free legal services to Donald Trump."

"They still have to look at themselves in the mirror and explain why they settled a case that wound up getting dismissed, and that the Department of Justice then dropped," said Elias. "They have to explain to their clients why anyone would hire them when they were so cowardly, when they lacked even the basic spine expected of any lawyer, no less one who charges thousands of dollars an hour, and they settled a claim and groveled in the Oval Office rather than standing up to fight."

Ms. Toad

(38,484 posts)

10. Unfortunately, a contract is a contract.

Reply to LetMyPeopleVote (Reply #9)

Mon Mar 2, 2026, 08:58 PM

56 min ago

If you enter a contract to avoid a lawsuit, a later finding that would support your position doesn't get you out of the contract.

You said the agreements were unenforceable

These agreements were never really enforceable. Now Skadden, Paul Weiss and others need to junk these "agreements"

Whether they are or not, the point I was making was that the DOJ's decision is irrelevant to the law firms who entered into agreements with Trump.

LetMyPeopleVote

(178,203 posts)

4. MaddowBlog-Justice Department to throw in the towel on Trump's campaign against law firms

Reply to LetMyPeopleVote (Original post)

Mon Mar 2, 2026, 07:25 PM

2 hrs ago

Those looking for evidence to bolster the “when you fight, you win” thesis need look no further than these developments.

The law firms that fought back against Trumpâ€™s unprecedented offensive prevailed â€” the DOJ is now dropping its appeals â€” while the firms that tried appeasement have struggled.

Seems like firms from the latter group should join the firms in the former?
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-03-02T21:40:18.972Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/justice-department-to-throw-in-the-towel-on-trumps-campaign-against-law-firms

As The New York Times noted in May after one of the firms’ court victories, “The ruling seemed to validate the strategy, embraced by a minority of firms, of fighting the administration instead of caving to a pressure campaign and making deals with Mr. Trump to avoid persecution.”

Now, the strategy appears even smarter: My MS NOW colleagues Lisa Rubin and Jesse Rodriguez reported that the Trump administration has signaled its intention to withdraw its appeal of the earlier losses. Soon after, The Wall Street Journal similarly reported:

The Trump administration plans to abandon its defense of the president’s executive orders sanctioning several law firms, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Justice Department as soon as Monday is expected to drop its appeals of four trial-court rulings that struck down President Trump’s actions against law firms Jenner & Block, WilmerHale, Perkins Coie, and Susman Godfrey.

For the four firms that already fought and won against the White House, the Justice Department’s apparent decision to throw in the towel leaves little doubt that they pursued the right and effective course. These firms saw unjust bullying; they saw other firms capitulate; they decided instead to stand their ground; and they’re in the process of winning the overall fight.

Those looking for evidence to bolster the “when you fight, you win” thesis need look no further than these developments.

As for the firms that decided instead to try to appease Trump, the consequences have been quite dramatic. Legal giants such as Paul Weiss, for example, which was the first firm to negotiate a deal with Team Trump, has lost a variety of partners over its strategy, as well as notable clients. Other firms that caved to the Republican administration have faced related challenges......

I keep waiting for at least one of the firms that went along with the White House to declare, “Upon further reflection, we’ve decided to fight back against the White House offensive and abandon the earlier deal that was reached under unjust circumstances. The president asked too much while threatening too much, and we’ve decided to take our chances.”

As things stand, if one these firms were to take such a step, they’d not just be better off within the industry — they’d also proceed with the confidence that they’d prevail over the administration, just as Jenner & Block, WilmerHale, Perkins Coie and Susman Godfrey already have. Watch this space.

I saw that Paul Weiss just opened a Houston office and stole a partner from Kirkland. I would love to see Skadden, Paul Weiss and Kirkland throw away these agreements.

LetMyPeopleVote

(178,203 posts)

5. Bloomberg Law-Kirkland Pressed by Democrats on Epshteyn's Role in Trump Deal

Reply to LetMyPeopleVote (Original post)

Mon Mar 2, 2026, 07:39 PM

2 hrs ago

Kirkland & Ellis is facing new questions about its deal with President Donald Trump, including the part that Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn played in landing the agreement.

Link to tweet

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and-practice/kirkland-pressed-by-democrats-on-epshteyns-role-in-trump-deal

Kirkland is one of the largest firms in the nation and their Houston office has some major league assholes (though one of these assholes just jumped to Paul Weiss). I am glad to see that the law firms who cut deals with trump are being challenged and questioned on those deals

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