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Mint
13 hours ago
- Business
- Mint
Fourth Trump Executive Order Against Law Firm Nullified by Judge
A DC federal judge has struck down President Donald Trump's executive order targeting Houston-founded law firm Susman Godfrey, marking the fourth takedown of an executive order targeting a law firm. US District Court Judge Loren AliKhan said Friday the order targeting Susman violates the U.S. Constitution and must be permanently enjoined. Judge AliKhan reasoned that Susman has nearly 20 clients who are government contractors or are affiliated with entities who do business with the government. 'Whether the executive is operating as a sovereign, contractor, landlord, or employer, it must comply with the Constitution,' AliKhan wrote. 'And as Defendants' counsel conceded at argument, the mere fact that the government has the right to exercise discretion does not immunize retaliatory intent.' The judge also wrote 'The court concludes that the Order constitutes unlawful retaliation against Susman for activities that are protected by the First Amendment, including its representation of certain clients, its donations to certain causes, and its expression of its beliefs regarding diversity.' 'The court's ruling is a resounding victory for the rule of law and the right of every American to be represented by legal counsel without fear of retaliation ... We are also deeply appreciative of those who supported us in this lawsuit, including our superb legal team at Munger, Tolles & Olson and the thousands of lawyers, former judges, law professors, and law students who submitted amicus briefs,' Susman said in a statement. The firm sued the Trump administration in April, arguing that the order against the firm is vindictive, retaliatory, and violates the Constitution. Similar to the directives against Perkins Coie, WilmerHale and Jenner & Block, the Susman order instructed agency heads to strip lawyers' security clearances, restrict personnel from accessing federal buildings, and slash federal contracts held by the firm's clients. Susman represented Dominion Voting Systems Inc. in a blockbuster defamation lawsuit against Fox Corp. in which the media company agreed to pay a $787.5 million settlement. The firm is also pursuing a defamation case against Mike Lindell, a well-known Trump advocate and chief executive officer of MyPillow, on behalf of Dominion. Susman is represented by former US solicitor general Donald Verrilli of Munger Tolles & Olson. Nine top law firms, including Paul Weiss, Kirkland & Ellis, Willkie Farr, and Latham & Watkins, reached agreements to collectively provide $940 million in free legal services for President Donald Trump to avoid executive orders. Some of the firms also resolved Equal Employment Opportunity Commission inquiries into their diversity programs. The case is Susman Godfrey v. Executive Office of the President, D.D.C., 1:25-cv- 01107, 6/27/25 To contact the reporters on this story: Tatyana Monnay at tmonnay@ and Justin Henry at jhenry@ To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chris Opfer at copfer@ John Hughes at jhughes@ Alessandra Rafferty at arafferty@ This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Reuters
04-03-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Law firms stock up on Biden-era US attorneys
March 4 (Reuters) - At least six former U.S. attorneys who served during the Democratic Biden administration took new jobs at private law firms this week, including the former top federal prosecutors in Boston and Houston. Joshua Levy, the former U.S. attorney for Massachusetts, will rejoin Ropes & Gray as a partner on March 31 after resigning ahead of Republican President Donald Trump's return to office, the law firm said Tuesday. Under Levy's supervision, the U.S. attorney's office pursued charges against the operators of a high-end brothel network whose customers included elected officials, corporate executives and lawyers, and helped obtain a $650 million deferred prosecution agreement with McKinsey & Co over its role in the U.S. opioid epidemic. Also on Tuesday, Houston-founded law firm Bracewell said it hired Alamdar Hamdani, former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas under Biden. Hamdani brought criminal charges against a Texas doctor and self-described whistleblower on transgender care for minors, after the doctor was accused of illegally gaining access to records about patients not under his care at Texas Children's Hospital. The doctor's prosecution was sharply criticized by conservatives, and the charges were dropped days after Trump took office. McGuireWoods said Monday it hired three former U.S. attorneys – Eric Olshan, of the Western District of Pennsylvania; Ryan Buchanan, of the Northern District of Georgia; and Michael Easley, of the Eastern District of North Carolina – as partners. Olshan oversaw the trial of Robert Bowers, who was convicted and sentenced to death for killing 11 worshippers at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. Trina Higgins, the former Utah U.S. attorney, joined Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati as an of counsel, the firm said Tuesday. Edward Kim, who served as the acting U.S. attorney in Manhattan following the resignation of Damian Williams in December, rejoined the private law firm he co-founded, KKL. The firm, previously known as Krieger Lewin, announced Kim's return and its name change on Monday. It is common for U.S. attorneys and other political appointees to move to the private sector when a new political party assumes the White House. Other government lawyers have taken positions since Trump took office at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton; Cravath, Swaine & Moore; King & Spalding; Latham & Watkins; Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan; Sidley Austin; Weil, Gotshal & Manges; and WilmerHale, among other firms.
Reuters
06-02-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Panama Canal Authority hires US law firm amid Trump threats
Feb 6 (Reuters) - (Billable Hours is Reuters' weekly report on lawyers and money. Please send tips or suggestions to opens new tab) U.S. law firm Vinson & Elkins has received nearly $7 million in fees since late November for work on behalf of the authority that controls the Panama Canal, as President Donald Trump has threatened to re-take control of the world's second busiest waterway. The law firm and 10 of its lawyers said in new filings, opens new tab under the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) that they are providing "legal and strategic advice" to Autoridad del Canal de Panama as it relates to the U.S. government. The work includes advising the canal authority and potentially engaging with U.S. officials in connection with "congressional inquiries, legislative actions, executive decisions, treaties, laws, and U.S. policy," the firm said in the filings, which were dated Jan. 31. Among the Vinson lawyers involved is G. Zachary Terwilliger, who served as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia during the first Republican Trump administration. A spokesperson for Vinson and the Panama Canal Authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The government of Panama separately hired two lobbying and consulting firms last month, BGR Group and VantageKnight. They did not respond to requests for comment. FARA requires U.S. law firms, lobbyists and others to disclose some types of work for foreign clients. Vinson, a Houston-founded firm with about 700 lawyers, said in its filings that Terwilliger and the other partners involved are billing the Panama Canal Authority between $1,050 and $1,500 an hour. The firm said it has spent $3.8 million in connection with its work, including more than $780,000 on "professional fees relating to non-registerable legal services" from U.S. law firm Mayer Brown. A Mayer Brown spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump in a December 22 speech accused Panama of charging excessive rates and said he would not let the canal fall into the "wrong hands," warning of potential Chinese influence on the passage. The canal, which accounts for 2.5% of global seaborne trade, returned to full Panamanian control in 1999 after the United States largely built it and administered the surrounding territory for decades. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday warned Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino that Washington will "take measures necessary" if Panama does not immediately try to end what Trump sees as China's influence and control over the Panama Canal. Mulino on Thursday accused the United States of spreading "lies and falsehoods" after the U.S. State Department claimed U.S. government vessels would be able to travel the Panama Canal without paying. -- Plaintiffs' lawyers behind a pending $2.8 billion class action antitrust settlement with Blue Cross Blue Shield have asked for more than $754 million in legal fees and expenses for their work on the 13-year-old case. The lawyers, led by the Whatley Kallas law firm, are seeking, opens new tab $657.1 million in fees, and at least $97 million in expenses. Whatley Kallas said its request for 23.47% of the settlement amount is in line with fees awarded to a different group of lawyers, led by Boies Schiller Flexner and Hausfeld LLP, for their work on a similar settlement from Blue Cross worth $2.7 billion in 2020. -- Lawyers who brought antitrust claims against meat-packing giant JBS said they are planning to request up to one-third of a pending $83.5 million settlement as their legal fee. Lawyers at Scott + Scott Attorneys at Law and Cafferty Clobes Meriwether & Sprengel said, opens new tab they have worked tens of thousands of hours on the litigation, which accused JBS of conspiring with other meat-packing companies to artificially inflate prices by curbing supply in the U.S. beef market. JBS said in a statement that the claims were "frivolous and without merit" but that settling was in the best interest of the company. Law and lobbying disclosures show earnings for Pam Bondi, RFK and top firms
