Judge finds Trump order targeting law firm Jenner & Block unlawful

A federal judge on Friday ruled President Trump's order targeting the law firm Jenner & Block is unlawful, blocking it in full.

U.S. District Judge John Bates, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, said Trump took aim at the law firm because of the causes it champions, the clients it represents and a lawyer it once employed — a reference to Andrew Weissmann, a prominent Trump critic and legal pundit who worked on special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

He noted that the president has signed several executive orders taking aim at Big Law firms like Jenner & Block over their ties to his perceived enemies.

"This order, like the others, seeks to chill legal representation the administration doesn’t like, thereby insulating the Executive Branch from the judicial check fundamental to the separation of powers," Bates wrote in a 52-page opinion. "It thus violates the Constitution and the Court will enjoin its operation in full."

He deemed Trump's order "null and void" and directed the Trump administration to rescind any guidance to federal agencies regarding enforcement of the action.

In a statement posted to its website, Jenner & Block said the ruling demonstrates the importance of lawyers "standing firm" on behalf of their clients and the law. 

"We are pleased with the court's decision to decisively strike down an unconstitutional attack on our clients' right to have zealous, independent counsel and our firm's right to represent our clients fully and without compromise," the statement read. 

Trump signed the order targeting Jenner & Block in March. It sought to limit the firm's government contracts and its employees' security clearances and access to government buildings.

Bates's decision marks the second time a federal judge has found one of Trump's orders targeting law firms unlawful.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell earlier this month struck down Trump's order aimed at Perkins Coie, writing in her 102-page opinion that it "draws from a playbook as old as Shakespeare, who penned the phrase: 'The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.'"

Perkins Coie advised Hillary Clinton during her 2016 presidential campaign and worked with an opposition research firm tied to the discredited Steele dossier.

Six firms have been named in executive orders, but only four have filed legal action challenging the directives: Jenner & Block, Perkins Coie, WilmerHale and Susman Godfrey. Other firms, targeted or not, struck deals with Trump to be spared an executive order or accepted the penalty silently.  

The other two firms targeted were Covington & Burling and Paul, Weiss. However, Trump rescinded his order against Paul, Weiss after it agreed to dedicate equal to $40 million in pro bono legal services to support administration initiatives; eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion policies; and not deny representation to clients based on their political views.

After that, at least nine law firms cut deals with Trump to provide tens of millions of dollars of free legal work on causes aligned with the administration. In return, Trump spared them an executive order.

They are Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Willkie Farr & Gallagher; Kirkland & Ellis; Latham & Watkins; Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft; A & O Shearman; Simpson Thacher & Bartlett; and Milbank. 

Altogether, the president extracted nearly $1 billion in pro bono legal services. Democratic members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee are investigating the deals.