The body defended lawyers’ First Amendment rights and the judicial regulation of attorney conduct
The American Bar Association has filed an amicus brief throwing its support behind the law firms that were hit with executive orders by US President Donald Trump over their representation of certain clients.
The organization filed the brief with the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The brief presented ABA policies decrying the US government’s efforts to sanction lawyers for assisting clients or causes the administration did not like; it also backed lawyers’ First Amendment rights and the judicial regulation of attorney conduct.
The ABA said the executive orders against law firms breached the right to freedom of speech, “impermissibly” struck back against lawyers over activities protected by the First Amendment, and infringed on lawyers’ associational rights. It said these First Amendment breaches had negatively impacted lawyers’ ability to act for clients.
Moreover, the orders breached separation of powers by permitting the executive to punish lawyers over conduct related to litigation occurring before courts, when courts exclusively possess the authority to regulate this conduct.
“The ABA appreciates the efforts of the law firms who are fighting the government’s unconstitutional efforts to punish lawyers and law firms for representing clients and causes the government disfavors. Lawyers must be free to represent any client, and the public must be able to freely choose the representation they want without worrying about government interference or retribution,” ABA president Michelle A. Behnke said in a statement.
Last year, Perkins Coie LLP, WilmerHale, Jenner & Block, and Susman Godfrey challenged orders levied against them in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. In all four cases, the orders were regarded as unconstitutional.
The DC circuit has compiled all four appeals by the US government and ordered that they be set for argument and decision by a panel that will also look into an appeal regarding an individual attorney’s pushback against a security clearance denial.
James A. Feldman and Stephen B. Kinnaird prepared and filed the amicus brief for the ABA in a pro bono effort.
