A judge has slapped down President Donald Trump’s punitive executive orders targeting law firms for a fourth time.
District Court Judge Loren AliKhan, appointed by former President Joe Biden, ruled that Trump’s order targeting law firm Susman Godfrey “violates the US Constitution and must be permanently enjoined,” Business Insider reported.
“In the ensuing months, every court to have considered a challenge to one of these orders has found grave constitutional violations and permanently enjoined enforcement of the order in full,” AliKhan wrote in the Friday ruling, adding, “Today, this court follows suit.”
AliKhan is the fourth judge to rule against Trump after the MAGA president unleashed a flurry of executive orders in February and March directed at large law firms such Paul Weiss, Perkins Coie, and Covington & Burling, among others, alleging they weaponized the judicial system against him.
In a raft of executive orders, the president called for reviews of each firm’s government contracts, the cancellation of security clearances for some employees, and blocking some firm members from entering federal buildings, including courthouses—damaging their ability to conduct business.
In a statement, Susman Godfrey called the court’s ruling “a resounding victory for the rule of law and the right of every American to be represented by legal counsel without fear of retaliation.”
The Trump administration hit back in a statement.
“The decision to grant any individual access to this nation’s secrets is a sensitive judgment call entrusted to the president,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields said to Business Insider. “Weighing these factors and implementing such decisions are core executive powers, and reviewing the president’s clearance decisions falls well outside the judiciary’s authority.”
Whereas many firms chose to challenge Trump’s executive orders, others such as Cadwalader; Simpson Thacher; Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; Kirkland & Ellis; Skadden; A&O Shearman; and Latham & Watkins have capitulated to Trump’s demands with billions of dollars of pro-bono work offered at Trump’s discretion, among other settlement terms, Bloomberg reported.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, also saw his firm, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, make a deal with Trump, even though he reportedly lobbied against it, The New York Times reported.
However, those deals have not been without consequence. The Wall Street Journal reported that at least 11 major companies, including Oracle, Morgan Stanley, Microsoft, and McDonald’s, have shifted their legal work away from firms that have struck deals with the Trump administration.
