Letter Calls on Law Firms to Uphold Core Constitutional Principles in the Face of the Trump Administration’s Attacks

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TRENTON – New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin today led a coalition of 20 attorneys general in publishing an open letter to the legal community that expresses support for law firms that have fought back against President Trump’s unconstitutional attempts to target law firms for advocacy the Trump Administration disfavors, and that expresses the coalition’s profound disappointment that several of the country’s largest law firms have capitulated in the face of these dangerous attacks on the rule of law.

The open letter to the legal community, which Attorney General Platkin led alongside the attorneys general of Delaware, Colorado, and Illinois, comes as President Trump has issued unconstitutional executive orders targeting several law firms for their advocacy, and as some of the nation’s largest law firms have struck “deals” with the President and his Administration that commit the firms to provide free legal services to support the Trump Administration’s priorities.

“The President’s unconstitutional attempts to target lawyers and law firms pose a grave threat to the rule of law.  That’s why I am proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with the law firms that have fought back against these threats instead of surrendering to the President’s unlawful demands,” said Attorney General Platkin. “Cutting unaccountable deals in response to the President’s threats is deeply damaging to the legal profession, and it is deeply damaging to the rule of law. It is not too late for these law firms to join the many other courageous lawyers who have stepped up and joined with us to fight back against President Trump’s outrageous abuse of power.”

In the letter published today, the coalition of attorneys general explains that President Trump’s executive orders plainly violate the Constitution.  The executive orders retaliate against lawyers based on protected speech and association, and they discriminate based on viewpoint.  The orders also are inconsistent with the right to effective counsel, offend basic principles of due process, and undermine bedrock rule-of-law principles.  The letter points out that these unconstitutional attacks on the legal profession are an attack on our justice system and pave the way towards authoritarianism.

In the letter, the coalition highlights that four law firms – Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, WilmerHale, and Susman Godfrey – have filed suit against the Trump Administration for the President’s illegal actions and have succeeded in obtaining court orders temporarily blocking these orders. Attorney General Platkin has co-led a coalition of states in filing amicus briefs in support of these lawsuits.

The letter calls upon other law firms and lawyers to join the four law firms who have fought back against these unconstitutional executive orders, along with their counsel, current and former General Counsel of leading companies, former judges, law professors, and the more than 800 other law firms that have joined amicus briefs in those cases.  The letter urges other law firms and lawyers to reject the path taken by the firms that have capitulated to President Trump, and it invites law firms to stand together with the coalition of attorneys general in preserving the integrity of our legal system.

The coalition was led by the Attorneys General of New Jersey, Colorado, Delaware, and Illinois. Joining them were the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

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