Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul today co-led an open letter to the legal community, condemning actions by several of the country’s largest law firms to capitulate in the face of the Trump administration’s continued dangerous attacks on the rule of law. Some firms have even opted to strike deals to provide free legal services to support the president’s priorities.
“President Trump’s unlawful threats undermine the democratic principles upon which our nation was founded,” Raoul said. “Law firms that capitulate to these threats become complicit in the administration’s continued efforts to undercut the judicial process, which depends on the rights to free speech, effective counsel and due process. I am proud to stand with the many lawyers who have shown courage in the face of these unconstitutional attacks, and I call on all of my colleagues in the legal community to join us.”
Since taking office, President Trump has issued unconstitutional executive orders targeting several law firms because they have represented or employed political opponents of the administration or have expressed viewpoints disfavored by the administration.
In their letter, Raoul and the coalition argue that President Trump’s executive orders plainly violate the Constitution by retaliating against lawyers based on protected speech and association, as well as discriminating based on viewpoint. The orders also are inconsistent with the right to effective counsel, offend basic principles of due process and undermine bedrock rule-of-law principles. The letter points out that these unconstitutional attacks on the legal profession are an attack on our justice system and pave the way toward authoritarianism.
Raoul and the coalition highlight that four law firms – Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, WilmerHale, and Susman Godfrey – have filed suit against the Trump administration over the president’s illegal actions and have succeeded in obtaining court orders temporarily blocking these orders.
Raoul and the coalition are calling on other law firms and lawyers to fight back against these unconstitutional executive orders and join former judges, law professors and the more than 800 other law firms that have joined amicus briefs against the president’s unlawful orders. The letter urges law firms to stand together with the coalition of attorneys general in preserving the integrity of the United States’ legal system.
Earlier this month, Raoul co-led two coalitions of 21 attorneys general in filing three amicus briefs supporting law firms challenging similar unconstitutional executive orders. In March, Raoul joined issued an open letter to the legal community warning of illegal attempts by the Trump administration to deter lawyers from challenging the administration’s actions or representing clients disfavored by the administration. Raoul also coined an op-ed published in Crain’s Chicago Business urging the legal community to stand strong in light of Trump’s actions.
Joining Raoul in leading the coalition are the attorneys general of Colorado, Delaware and New Jersey. The coalition was joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
