The Hon. Beryl A. Howell, the federal judge overseeing a similar lawsuit filed by Perkins Coie LLP challenging the Administration’s Executive Order related to that firm, has enjoined enforcement of certain aspects of the order. In a March 12, 2025 hearing, Judge Howell stated that the Executive Order “intended to punish Perkins Coie for its work on behalf of its clients” and that the order “casts a chilling harm of blizzard proportion across the entire legal profession.” The judge further stated that this kind of order significantly undermines “our entire legal system and the ability of all people and groups to access justice.”
In a March 28, 2025 Order, the Hon. Richard J. Leon came to a similar conclusion concerning the March 27, 2025 Executive Order targeting WilmerHale. In his Order that granted in part and denied in part WilmerHale’s application for a temporary restraining order, the judge concluded that most of the March 28, 2025 Executive Order constituted viewpoint retaliation and that the “retaliatory nature of the Executive Order was clear on its face.” Indeed, the judge found that there was “no doubt this retaliatory action chills speech and legal advocacy, or that it qualifies as a constitutional harm.”
That same day, the Hon. John D. Bates granted Jenner’s application for a temporary restraining order as well.
In light of these independent judicial findings at the earliest stages of litigation, and facing the stark reality that the Administration has likely set its sights on other law firms, the City Bar believes that it is important for legal organizations throughout the country to affirm the rights of lawyers and law firms to association, freedom of expression, due process and freedom in their contractual relationships. Lawyers are free to represent clients regardless of their political affiliations or religious or moral beliefs, and regardless of the legality or alleged illegality of the clients’ actions. We recognize that these rights impose the highest ethical obligations upon lawyers and require them to act with the best interests of their clients in mind, to maintain their clients’ confidence, and to advocate competently and ethically before tribunals. Now, more than ever, is the time for legal organizations to set aside political and policy differences to unequivocally stand up for the independence of the legal profession.
About the Association
The mission of the New York City Bar Association, which was founded in 1870 and has 23,000 members, is to equip and mobilize a diverse legal profession to practice with excellence, promote reform of the law, and uphold the rule of law and access to justice in support of a fair society and the public interest in our community, our nation, and throughout the world. www.nycbar.org
