American Bar Association Sues To Block Trump’s ‘Intimidation Policy’ Targeting Law Firms

The American Bar Association is suing to block President Trump from enforcing his executive orders targeting large law firms, saying the “policy” is “unprecedented and uniquely dangerous to the rule of law.”In a complaint filed Monday, the ABA asks the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to stop the president from enforcing his executive orders targeting law firms. Shortly after the start of his second term, Mr. Trump issued a series of executive orders targeting law firms that have engaged in legal work for causes he opposes or that have advised or hired his political adversaries. The orders included a series of actions, such as revoking security clearances or banning lawyers from federal buildings, imperiling their ability to do business. Nine large law firms made agreements with the administration to avoid being targeted by executive orders, such as offering free legal services to causes favored by the president and abandoning their diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. America’s largest voluntary legal association, the ABA, says Mr. Trump is carrying out an “intimidation policy.”“The president’s attacks on law firms through the law firm orders are thus not isolated events, but one component of a broader, deliberate policy designed to intimidate and coerce law firms and lawyers to refrain from challenging the president or his administration in court, or from even speaking publicly in support of policies or causes that the president does not like,” the ABA’s complaint says. The ABA also notes that the settlements some law firms reached with Mr. Trump are “apparently not in writing or enforceable by the law firms, so the president can change his mind at any time and impose an executive order if the firms stray too far from the president’s wishes—thus maintaining the coercive effect of the policy even against ‘settling’ law firms.”The group says Mr. Trump “will continue to issue potentially devastating executive orders against law firms that do not ‘behave,’” thus imposing a chill “of blizzard proportions” that “continues to grip most of the top law firms and lawyers in the country.” “Never before has there been as urgent a need for the ABA to defend its members, their profession, and the rule of law itself,” the complaint reads. A White House spokesman, Harrison Fields, brushed off the lawsuit in a statement. “The American Bar Association’s lawsuit is clearly frivolous. The president has always had discretion over which contracts the government enters into and who receives security clearances.“His exercise of these core executive functions cannot be dictated by the ABA, a private organization, or the courts. The administration looks forward to ultimate victory on this issue,” Mr. Fields said. While the ABA is seeking to block enforcement of the president’s executive orders, three federal judges have already ruled for three of America’s largest law firms that sued over them, calling the sanctions unconstitutional.The ABA’s lawsuit comes amid a separate legal battle with the Trump administration. In April, the association sued the Department of Justice after it canceled $3.2 million in federal grants used to train lawyers who represent victims of domestic violence. In May, a federal judge at Washington temporarily blocked the Trump administration from canceling those grants. Also, Attorney General Bondi told the ABA in May that the Department of Justice will not comply with the association’s ratings of judicial nominees, which she claims “invariably and demonstrably” favor nominees from Democratic administrations. Ms. Bondi’s deputy, Todd Blanche, also said that the department will no longer pay for travel to ABA events and that justice department employees “may not” attend the association’s events in their official capacities.

American Bar Association Sues To Block Trump’s ‘Intimidation Policy’ Targeting Law Firms

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