Bay City Sketchbook: Lawyers and Lawyering

WE HAVE RECENTLY reported about the Trump administration’s use of executive orders to target law firms who have represented clients adverse to the president or his priorities. Within the legal profession there has been a split between the firms who have settled with the government and others who fought back against the administration by filing or supporting lawsuits. The sorting of elite law firms into these camps was galvanized by the filing of a “friend of the court” brief in support of Perkins Coie, one of the firms that was targeted and sued the administration claiming the executive orders were unconstitutional. In a show of solidarity, more than 500 firms around the country joined the court filing.  

Observers focused on the fact that while many firms signed the amicus brief, most of the largest firms in the country did not. Law firm leaders have had to make difficult decisions between the business interests of the law firm and the traditional independence of the bar and its history of standing up for clients who are unpopular with government.