{"id":113330,"date":"2025-04-03T14:03:03","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T22:03:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/04\/03\/several-hundred-law-professors-file-amicus-brief-against-trumps-attacks-on-biglaw\/"},"modified":"2025-04-03T14:03:03","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T22:03:03","slug":"several-hundred-law-professors-file-amicus-brief-against-trumps-attacks-on-biglaw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/04\/03\/several-hundred-law-professors-file-amicus-brief-against-trumps-attacks-on-biglaw\/","title":{"rendered":"Several Hundred Law Professors File Amicus Brief Against Trump\u2019s Attacks On Biglaw"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
\u2018The board actually lists all the arguments for the Executive Order being constitutional.\u2019 \u2013 The Professors<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Trump administration\u2019s decision to retaliate against the President\u2019s former Biglaw adversaries is unprecedented in American history. Most of the focus has been on Trump\u2019s audacity or Biglaw\u2019s repeated cowardice, but let\u2019s take a second to think about the judges who have to deal with this mess. When deciding matters of first impression, you really want to make sure that you\u2019re seeing all of the angles as clearly as you can. Deciding the matter in good faith may require re-reading a couple of cases \u2014 even going back to basics and dusting off some Con Law readings from your 1L years is fair game. But you know what\u2019s better than consulting the textbook? Whoever wrote the book you\u2019re consulting. And at this point, that might apply to all<\/em> of your books. Hundreds of law professors (363, to be exact) specializing in Constitutional Law, Legal Ethics, and Legal History recently submitted an amicus brief in support of Perkins Coie. The professors aren\u2019t pulling any punches either. Here\u2019s a snippet of the summary of argument from the brief:<\/p>\n

\n
\n

The President\u2019s Order is a self-declared act of retribution that targets a law firm for representing clients and causes the President disfavors. In inflicting this retribution, the Order contradicts centuries of precedent safeguarding free speech, the right of association, and the right to petition. These precedents establish that the First Amendment \u201cprohibits government officials from \u2018relying on the threat of invoking legal sanctions and other means of coercion . . . to achieve the suppression\u2019 of disfavored speech.\u201d Nat\u2019l Rifle Ass\u2019n v. Vullo, 602 U.S. 175, 176 (2024) (quoting Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan, 372 U.S. 58, 67 (1963)). Targeting Perkins Coie for representing clients and espousing views the President dislikes is viewpoint discrimination, plain and simple.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It goes on to state that the executive order targeting Perkins Coie violates the 5th Amendment, the 6th Amendment, and threatens the rule of law. Beyond being an interesting read outright, it is so clearly expressed that it is, unsurprisingly, a teaching exercise. It is ready made for anyone who needs to brush up on their Con Law because of time constraints, be it because they are presiding over a declining country\u2019s rapid departure from the rule of law or because they need to cram for an upcoming law exam. You can read the motion for leave to file and the brief proper on the following pages.<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: The American Constitution Society Calls On Quiet Law School Deans To Speak Up<\/a><\/p>\n

Thousands Of Lawyers Sign Open Letter To Defend The Rule Of Law From Executive Attack<\/a><\/p>\n

Over 50 Bar Organizations Stand Up For The Rule Of Law<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord\u2122 in the Facebook group\u00a0Law School Memes for Edgy T14s<\/a>. \u00a0He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim,\u00a0a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor<\/a>, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at\u00a0cwilliams@abovethelaw.com<\/a>\u00a0and by tweet at\u00a0@WritesForRent<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The post Several Hundred Law Professors File Amicus Brief Against Trump\u2019s Attacks On Biglaw<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\u2018The board actually lists all the arguments for the Executive Order being constitutional.\u2019 \u2013 The Professors<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Trump administration\u2019s decision to retaliate against the President\u2019s former Biglaw adversaries is unprecedented in American history. Most of the focus has been on Trump\u2019s audacity or Biglaw\u2019s repeated cowardice, but let\u2019s take a second to think about the judges who have to deal with this mess. When deciding matters of first impression, you really want to make sure that you\u2019re seeing all of the angles as clearly as you can. Deciding the matter in good faith may require re-reading a couple of cases \u2014 even going back to basics and dusting off some Con Law readings from your 1L years is fair game. But you know what\u2019s better than consulting the textbook? Whoever wrote the book you\u2019re consulting. And at this point, that might apply to all<\/em> of your books. Hundreds of law professors (363, to be exact) specializing in Constitutional Law, Legal Ethics, and Legal History recently submitted an amicus brief in support of Perkins Coie. The professors aren\u2019t pulling any punches either. Here\u2019s a snippet of the summary of argument from the brief:<\/p>\n

\n
\n

The President\u2019s Order is a self-declared act of retribution that targets a law firm for representing clients and causes the President disfavors. In inflicting this retribution, the Order contradicts centuries of precedent safeguarding free speech, the right of association, and the right to petition. These precedents establish that the First Amendment \u201cprohibits government officials from \u2018relying on the threat of invoking legal sanctions and other means of coercion . . . to achieve the suppression\u2019 of disfavored speech.\u201d Nat\u2019l Rifle Ass\u2019n v. Vullo, 602 U.S. 175, 176 (2024) (quoting Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan, 372 U.S. 58, 67 (1963)). Targeting Perkins Coie for representing clients and espousing views the President dislikes is viewpoint discrimination, plain and simple.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It goes on to state that the executive order targeting Perkins Coie violates the 5th Amendment, the 6th Amendment, and threatens the rule of law. Beyond being an interesting read outright, it is so clearly expressed that it is, unsurprisingly, a teaching exercise. It is ready made for anyone who needs to brush up on their Con Law because of time constraints, be it because they are presiding over a declining country\u2019s rapid departure from the rule of law or because they need to cram for an upcoming law exam. You can read the motion for leave to file and the brief proper on the following pages.<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: The American Constitution Society Calls On Quiet Law School Deans To Speak Up<\/a><\/p>\n

Thousands Of Lawyers Sign Open Letter To Defend The Rule Of Law From Executive Attack<\/a><\/p>\n

Over 50 Bar Organizations Stand Up For The Rule Of Law<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord\u2122 in the Facebook group\u00a0Law School Memes for Edgy T14s<\/a>. \u00a0He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim,\u00a0a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor<\/a>, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at\u00a0[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>\u00a0and by tweet at\u00a0@WritesForRent<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

1<\/strong> 2<\/a>Next \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018The board actually lists all the arguments for the Executive Order being constitutional.\u2019 \u2013 The Professors The Trump administration\u2019s decision to retaliate against the President\u2019s former Biglaw adversaries is unprecedented in American history. Most of the focus has been on Trump\u2019s audacity or Biglaw\u2019s repeated cowardice, but let\u2019s take a second to think about the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":113275,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Williams-150x150-ungMvP.jpeg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}