Overview
- Less than a day after moving to dismiss its consolidated appeals, the DOJ asked the D.C. Circuit to withdraw that filing and continue defending the executive orders.
- Perkins Coie, WilmerHale, Jenner & Block, and Susman Godfrey objected to the reversal, noting the department offered no explanation for its shift.
- The challenged orders sought to suspend lawyers’ security clearances, bar firm employees from federal buildings, and threaten federal contracts tied to the firms and their clients.
- District courts had ruled against the government in all four cases, and the appeals remain pending with briefing schedules set as the panel considers the DOJ’s procedural about-face.
- Nine other major firms previously reached agreements with the White House totaling roughly $940 million in pro bono commitments to avoid similar sanctions.