'Drips with disdain': Legal observers in awe as judge rips firms that caved to Trump

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell issued a scathing opinion permanently blocking President Donald Trump's executive order targeting the law firm Perkins Coie, which represented anti-Trump and anti-GOP clients in the past, declaring it in violation of the First, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments and ordering the firm's access to federal contracts, buildings, and security clearance restored. But more than that, she took a swipe at other law firms that capitulated to Trump rather than fight.

Trump has struck deals with a number of other firms with which he had similar gripes, like Paul Weiss and Skadden Arps, getting promises from them to commit tens of millions of dollars to pro bono legal work on behalf of the administration, among other things, like agreeing to change their hiring and representation practices.

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Howell made clear in her opinion how cowardly she felt these deals were.

"In a cringe-worthy twist on the theatrical phrase 'Let’s kill all the lawyers,' EO 14230 takes the approach of 'Let’s kill the lawyers I don’t like,' sending the clear message: lawyers must stick to the party line, or else," wrote Howell. "This message has been heard and heeded by some targeted law firms, as reflected in their choice, after reportedly direct dealings with the current White House, to agree to demand terms, perhaps viewing this choice as the best alternative for their clients and employees. Yet, some clients may harbor reservations about the implications of such deals for the vigorous and zealous representation to which they are entitled from ethically responsible counsel, since at least the publicized deal terms appear only to forestall, rather than eliminate, the threat of being targeted in an Executive Order."

"Only when lawyers make the choice to challenge rather than back down when confronted with government action raising non-trivial constitutional issues can a case be brought to court for judicial review of the legal merits, as was done in this case by plaintiff Perkins Coie LLP, plaintiff’s counsel Williams & Connolly, and the lawyers, firms, organizations, and individuals who submitted amicus briefs in this case," Howell wrote.

"Howell drips with disdain for the firms who capitulated to the White House and says of those who resisted 'will be the models lauded when this period of American history is written,'" wrote Politico legal analyst Kyle Cheney.

"An extraordinary opinion for an extraordinary moment in American history," wrote American Immigration Council attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick.