C&P Joins Leading Law Firms in Defense of Rule of Law
In a moment of extraordinary challenge to the independence of the legal profession, Clinton & Peed has proudly joined three amicus briefs—one of only 504 law firms nationwide to join all three—in support of larger firms facing sweeping executive sanctions. We believe this collective action is not only consistent with the highest obligations of the bar, but essential to preserving the rule of law in a constitutional democracy.
The briefs—filed in support of Perkins Coie LLP, Jenner & Block LLP, and Susman Godfrey LLP—urge federal courts to enjoin recent executive orders that punish law firms for taking on politically disfavored clients or engaging in robust pro bono work. As one brief warns, “[T]he rule of law cannot long endure in the climate of fear that such actions create.”
The filings argue that recent executive orders—revoking security clearances, cutting off access to federal contracts, and publicly maligning law firms for past representations—are “undisguised retaliation” against lawyers for doing their jobs. These orders threaten to “cow every other firm, large and small, into submission” and would cast “a profound chill . . . over the First Amendment right to petition the courts for redress.”
Clinton & Peed joined these briefs not to take a political side, but to uphold a principle central to our identity: that all individuals and institutions are entitled to counsel, and that lawyers must be free to advocate without fear of retribution. As the Perkins brief explains, “The work done by amici . . . is indispensable to the success of our system,” whether in representing large institutions, small nonprofits, or controversial causes.
As reported in The New York Times, these executive orders mark an unprecedented assault on professional independence. Many firms “are concerned that signing the document would draw Mr. Trump’s ire and cost them clients,” the article notes, underscoring the courage that signing represents. Read more here.
At Clinton & Peed, we are committed to doing our part to defend the adversarial system that makes equal justice under law possible.
UPDATE (July 21, 2025): A recent article by the New York Times entitled “Big Law Firms Bowed to Trump. A Corps of ‘Little Guys’ Jumped in to Fight Him” notes that “[o]nly eight of the nation’s top 100 firms signed the [Perkins amicus] brief, including WilmerHale, Susman Godfrey, Jenner & Block and Covington & Burling, all of which were also targeted by Mr. Trump’s executive orders and sued to block them”; while a few top-100 firms (like Cooley, Quinn Emanuel, and Williams & Connolly) have “joined the fray” directly on behalf of the parties. C&P notes with pride that two of those firms—Covington & Burling and Williams & Connolly—are where the firm’s two partners began their careers.