AI
Saturday, March 21, 2026 8:09:01 PM
How Trump’s crackdown on law firms is undermining legal defenses for the vulnerable
More Trump illegality thwarted: Judge finds Trump executive order punishing Susman Godfrey law firm unconstitutional
"Judge tosses Trump order punishing the law firm WilmerHale
"The Courts Versus Trump, Then and Now
"2 more judges block Trump administration's use of Alien Enemies Act to remove certain migrants'"
See also: Law firms fighting back and winning.
[...]Judge John Bates, a long-serving federal district court judge in Washington, DC, ruled that Trump's executive order punishing the law firm Jenner & Block was not only unconstitutional, but that Trump's actions were "doubly violative of the Constitution."
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=176244110
A REUTERS SPECIAL REPORT
Dozens of major law firms, wary of retaliation, have scaled back pro bono work, diversity initiatives
and litigation that could place them in conflict with Trump, a Reuters investigation found.
By Mike Spector, Brad Heath, Kristina Cooke, Joseph Tanfani and David Thomas
July 31, 20258:00 PM GMT+10 Updated August 4, 2025
Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein; Illustration REUTERS/John Emerson
When the Texas Civil Rights Project needed lawyers to help dozens of people arrested during U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, legal director Dustin Rynders turned to a familiar strategy. He contacted major law firms that for decades had provided free legal services to nonprofits like his.
On that April day in Houston, he called his usual contacts, many at firms that had previously handled challenges to Trump’s immigration policies. Before Trump’s return to the White House, they typically offered swift “pro bono,” or free, legal help – a standard public service provided by elite U.S. firms.
This time, they all declined. “We are just handling the cases ourselves at this point,” Rynders said.
In March and April, Trump issued a series of executive orders targeting law firms he considers adversaries, the first such attacks by a U.S. president against the legal profession. Some of the orders lashed out at firms for donating their time to cases involving immigration, transgender rights and the January 6 attack by Trump supporters on the U.S. Capitol, claiming this legal work undermined U.S. interests.
Kristina Cooke is an investigative reporter at Reuters focused on immigration. In 2025, she was part of a team of reporters who were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for coverage of the fentanyl supply chain. In 2023, she and colleagues were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for an investigation into migrant child labor in the United States. Originally from Germany, she joined Reuters in London in 2005 and is now based in San Francisco.
https://www.reuters.com/investigations/trumps-war-big-law-leads-firms-retreat-pro-bono-work-underdogs-2025-07-31/
It's a long sorry tale of just how successful unscrupulous exploitation of raw power can be.
How it can negatively impact upon the people who most need help.
More Trump illegality thwarted: Judge finds Trump executive order punishing Susman Godfrey law firm unconstitutional
"Judge tosses Trump order punishing the law firm WilmerHale
"The Courts Versus Trump, Then and Now
"2 more judges block Trump administration's use of Alien Enemies Act to remove certain migrants'"
See also: Law firms fighting back and winning.
[...]Judge John Bates, a long-serving federal district court judge in Washington, DC, ruled that Trump's executive order punishing the law firm Jenner & Block was not only unconstitutional, but that Trump's actions were "doubly violative of the Constitution."
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=176244110
A REUTERS SPECIAL REPORT
Dozens of major law firms, wary of retaliation, have scaled back pro bono work, diversity initiatives
and litigation that could place them in conflict with Trump, a Reuters investigation found.
By Mike Spector, Brad Heath, Kristina Cooke, Joseph Tanfani and David Thomas
July 31, 20258:00 PM GMT+10 Updated August 4, 2025
Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein; Illustration REUTERS/John Emerson
When the Texas Civil Rights Project needed lawyers to help dozens of people arrested during U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, legal director Dustin Rynders turned to a familiar strategy. He contacted major law firms that for decades had provided free legal services to nonprofits like his.
On that April day in Houston, he called his usual contacts, many at firms that had previously handled challenges to Trump’s immigration policies. Before Trump’s return to the White House, they typically offered swift “pro bono,” or free, legal help – a standard public service provided by elite U.S. firms.
This time, they all declined. “We are just handling the cases ourselves at this point,” Rynders said.
In March and April, Trump issued a series of executive orders targeting law firms he considers adversaries, the first such attacks by a U.S. president against the legal profession. Some of the orders lashed out at firms for donating their time to cases involving immigration, transgender rights and the January 6 attack by Trump supporters on the U.S. Capitol, claiming this legal work undermined U.S. interests.
Kristina Cooke is an investigative reporter at Reuters focused on immigration. In 2025, she was part of a team of reporters who were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for coverage of the fentanyl supply chain. In 2023, she and colleagues were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for an investigation into migrant child labor in the United States. Originally from Germany, she joined Reuters in London in 2005 and is now based in San Francisco.
https://www.reuters.com/investigations/trumps-war-big-law-leads-firms-retreat-pro-bono-work-underdogs-2025-07-31/
It's a long sorry tale of just how successful unscrupulous exploitation of raw power can be.
How it can negatively impact upon the people who most need help.
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
Discover What Traders Are Watching
Explore small cap ideas before they hit the headlines.
