Trump’s Law Firm Executive Order Appeals Exist To Haunt Biglaw, Make Sure His Threats Never Die

Ed. note: Welcome to our daily feature, Quote of the Day.

The district court wrote careful opinions which were relatively consistent. An ordinary litigant might have said it’s not worth it. But the desire to win on appeal is not the only reason to pursue these appeals. The appeals force the targeted firms to incur significant legal fees and live with some measure of uncertainty. The fact that the cases have not been finally resolved may have some in terrorem effects on other firms that are observing what is happening.

— Leslie Levin, a legal ethics professor at the University of Connecticut Law School, in comments given to Law.com, concerning the Trump administration’s retaliatory law firm executive orders. Each firm that challenged in court successfully attained injunctions, with the orders found unconstitutional. Scott Cummings, a legal ethics professor at UCLA School of Law, echoed Levin’s thoughts, telling Law.com, “I think it’s inevitable that they headed this direction, [for the government to] move these things as far as it possibly can move them, even just to impose additional kind of pressure and expense on the law firms.” Cummings went on to assess Trump’s chances on appeal, saying, “I think the outcomes will be inevitable against the government. I think all four injunction orders are very strong.”

Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.