‘The playbook of a dictator’: Trump’s war of retribution on America’s legal system | Opinion

For 45 years, I have taught my students that lawyers cannot be punished for the clients they represent or for their lawful, zealous advocacy. This fundamental principle is essential to ensure that everyone — even very unpopular clients — can receive effective representation. But now President Donald Trump has made a mockery of this principle by punishing law firms solely for the sake of personal retribution.

Last week, Trump issued an executive order imposing draconian sanctions against the firm WilmerHale, suspending security clearances for its lawyers, ending federal government contracts with businesses represented by the firm and barring lawyers in the firm from access to federal buildings.

No firm can survive these sanctions. Taken literally, lawyers from the firm could not go to meetings with federal officials, appear before federal regulatory bodies or even go into federal courts. Clients could not receive representation, and the firm would likely collapse.

Retribution, pure and simple

What did WilmerHale do to deserve this punishment? According to the executive order, it is because the law firm hired former special counsel Robert Mueller and two of his deputies after they completed their investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and the possible obstruction of justice by Trump and his associates. No one alleges that Mueller and his team violated any law or ethical rule, and Mueller retired from WilmerHale in 2021, but Trump’s desire for retribution is so great that he is severely punishing the firm for its association with Mueller.

Four other law firms have been targeted with similar executive orders, and each order explicitly declares that its purpose is retribution, pure and simple. On Feb. 25, Trump issued an executive order against lawyers at Covington & Burling LLP who “assisted former Special Counsel Jack Smith during his time as special counsel.” The lawyers’ only sin was that they assisted the investigation and criminal prosecution of Trump.

On March 6, Trump issued an executive order directed at the law firm Perkins Coie.

“The dishonest and dangerous activity of the law firm Perkins Coie LLP … has affected this country for decades,” the order stated. What was its offense? In 2016, it represented Hillary Clinton. As with WilmerHale, the sanctions against the law firm included revoking security clearances for Perkins Coie’s lawyers, ending government contracts with the firm and barring the firm from access to federal buildings.

On March 14, Trump issued an executive order against the national law firm of Paul Weiss and imposed the same sanctions. The primary reason given in the executive order was that one of its former lawyers worked in the Manhattan district attorney’s office and was part of the legal team that prosecuted and convicted Trump. Also, the executive order says that one of the lawyers in the firm represented clients suing those responsible for the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

On March 23, Trump issued an executive order against the firm Jenner & Block. This executive order focused on one of the lawyers having worked as part of Mueller’s investigation of the 2016 election, and, in Trump’s words, “pursuing a political agenda against me.”

Dictator’s playbook

These are five of the most prestigious law firms in the world. These executive orders are truly unprecedented and deeply wrong on multiple levels. Government power should never be used for retribution, and the executive orders make clear that this is entirely what they are about.

For essential reasons, the law has always been clear that lawyers should not be punished or even judged for their clients or for their lawful, zealous advocacy. Indeed, the Supreme Court has said that such representation and advocacy is protected by the First Amendment, and it is essential to protect the right to counsel guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment and due process of law under the Fifth and 14th Amendments.

The targeted law firms are in a terrible position. Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block and WilmerHale are fighting in court and a federal judge immediately granted their requests for temporary restraining order against the executive orders. By contrast, Paul Weiss settled, which included a provision of $40 million of free legal work to support causes favored by Trump. And the law firm Skadden Arps reached a preemptive settlement with Trump before he even imposed sanctions, with the firm agreeing to provide $100 million in pro bono work for causes approved by the president.

I am convinced that something even more insidious underlies the Trump administration’s actions. In its first months, Trump has issued countless executive orders that violate the Constitution. I believe that his targeting of law firms is to chill them from bringing challenges against his policies and actions. The message to law firms is clear: If they draw the ire of the president, he will exact retribution and put their firms in serious jeopardy.

This is the playbook of a dictator, not a president in a democracy under the rule of law. It is imperative that the legal profession speak loudly and with one voice: Trump’s actions against law firms are illegal and morally bankrupt. It is time for all to say, in the words of American lawyer Joseph N. Welch at the Army-McCarthy hearings, “Have you no sense of decency?”

This story was originally published March 31, 2025 at 12:36 PM with the headline "‘The playbook of a dictator’: Trump’s war of retribution on America’s legal system | Opinion."