Trump administration sued over ‘uniquely destructive’ intimidation of BigLaw firms

These actions, as reported by Lawyers Weekly, have included probing the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices of nearly two dozen BigLaw practices, including some with offices in Australia. In response to the pressure being placed on them, some firms – including White & Case – have subsequently wound up their DEI efforts.

In response to such targeting, Lawyers Weekly has asked global firms with Australian arms if they remain committed to DEI in the Trump era.

Now, the American Bar Association – which has been outspoken against the Trump administration’s actions – has filed proceedings against the US government, more than two dozen federal departments and agencies, and the heads of those departments and agencies, asking a federal court “to declare unconstitutional the Trump administration’s ongoing unlawful policy of intimidation against lawyers and law firms and to enjoin the government from enforcing the policy”.

The filing notes that: “Since taking office earlier this year, President Trump has used the vast powers of the executive branch to coerce lawyers and law firms to abandon clients, causes, and policy positions the President does not like. The administration has carried out this policy (the ‘Law Firm Intimidation Policy’ or ‘Policy’) through a series of materially identical executive orders designed to severely damage particular law firms and intimidate other firms and lawyers (the ‘Law Firm Orders’); a series of similar ‘deals’ or ‘settlements’ between the administration and certain law firms in order to avoid such orders or have them rescinded; other related executive orders, letters, and memoranda described below; and public statements by the President and his administration publicizing the objectives of the Law Firm Intimidation Policy.

“The President’s attacks on law firms through the Law Firm Orders are thus not isolated events, but one component of a broader, deliberate policy designed to intimidate and coerce law firms and lawyers to refrain from challenging the President or his administration in court, or from even speaking publicly in support of policies or causes that the President does not like.”

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The filing continued: “The President said it most clearly in a March 24, 2025, press conference: ‘I just think that the law firms have to behave themselves.’

“Using the powers of the executive branch to target private citizens and private firms for destruction is unprecedented, and bad enough regardless of the President’s motives. But the administration’s Law Firm Intimidation Policy is uniquely destructive because of the critical role that its targets – lawyers – fulfill in our constitutional system.”

In a statement issued earlier this week, the ABA declared that the Trump administration has demonstrated that it intends to continue the Law Firm Intimidation Policy, to intimidate lawyers and law firms from taking on cases adverse to the President’s interests.

These attacks, the member body argued, “are clear violations of First Amendment rights, including prohibitions on government coercion to suppress free speech, discrimination based on viewpoints held by lawyers and law firms, and the right of citizens to assemble freely and to petition the government”.

ABA president William R. Bay said: “This is the time to stand up, speak out and seek relief from our courts.

“There has never been a more urgent time for the ABA to defend its members, our profession and the rule of law itself.”

The proceedings have been filed in the DC-based US District Court.

Last month, Lawyers Weekly explored whether Trump-like attacks on the judiciary could happen Down Under.