Trump administration appeals judge's ruling blocking Perkins Coie executive order

The Justice Department on Monday appealed a federal judge’s order blocking President Trump’s executive order against the law firm Perkins Coie aimed at undercutting its business as retribution for ties to his political adversaries. 

The notice of appeal comes nearly two months after U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell deemed the order unlawful, suggesting it “draws from a playbook as old as Shakespeare, who penned the phrase: ‘The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.’”

It could become an appeals court’s first chance to weigh Trump’s punitive orders against the Big Law firms.

Perkins Coie was one of six law firms targeted by Trump, having long drawn his ire for advising Hillary Clinton during her 2016 presidential campaign and working with an opposition research firm tied to the discredited Steele dossier.  

The orders, said to be “addressing risks” to the country posed by the firms, cut off employees’ security clearances and access to federal government facilities and directed his administration to review any contracts the government has with the law firm.  

At a hearing in April, Howell suggested the executive order was a “throwback to the McCarthy era and the Red Scare era,” a reference to the mid-20th century moral panic about communist and Soviet influence on American institutions that the late Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-Wis.) spearheaded. 

Her May ruling was the first to strike down one of Trump’s executive orders against the firms. Three other federal judges have since handed decisive victories to the law firms Jenner & Block, WilmerHale and Susman Godfrey, with each deeming Trump’s orders unconstitutional.

The Trump administration has argued that it’s within the president’s discretion to decide whom to trust with the nation’s secrets and that the order was designed to assuage his concerns about the firms.

The executive orders have fractured the legal industry, as not all firms have fought back, with some instead opting to strike deals with Trump or remain mum.

While Covington & Burling signed on to a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Perkins Coie, it has not mounted any legal challenge to Trump’s executive order against the firm.

The order against Paul, Weiss was rescinded after the firm agreed to dedicate the equivalent of $40 million in pro bono legal services to support Trump administration initiatives; eliminate any diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies; and not deny representation to clients on the basis of their political views. 

At least eight other firms struck deals with Trump, despite having no executive orders issued against them: Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Willkie Farr & Gallagher; Kirkland & Ellis; Latham & Watkins; Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft; A & O Shearman; Simpson Thacher & Bartlett; and Milbank.