Trump’s Battle With Big Law Firms Heads Into 2026: What to Know

There was perhaps no bigger story last year in the world of Big Law than President Donald Trump’s attacks on several of the nation’s largest law firms through punitive executive orders due to political affiliations and adversarial hires.

Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, Susman Godfrey, WilmerHale, and Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison were hit with executive orders that sought to cut security clearances for the firms’ lawyers and directed federal agencies to review contracts with the firms’ clients.

The first four firms sued the administration over the EOs, while the last—Paul Weiss—struck a deal with the White House to rescind the EO by promising millions of dollars’ worth of free legal services. That deal became the framework for eight subsequent arrangements with other top law firms to avoid retribution from the administration.

Four judges ruled in separate cases that the administration’s actions targeting the law firms were unconstitutional. The administration appealed the decisions last summer.

The cases are now in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which directed the four litigating firms to file motions addressing the duplicative nature of the cases with a move toward consolidating them.

Given the government shutdown and other extensions granted by the court, the firms now have until Jan. 26 to file their motions.

The DOJ has also introduced new lawyers to argue its side, including the former Kansas attorney general and current Deputy Associate Attorney General Abhishek Kambli.

Here’s a snapshot of where the four litigating firms and the nine dealmaking firms are at as the new year begins.

Perkins Coie

Seattle-founded Perkins Coie was one of the first law firms hit with an EO in March, targeted for its past work with Hillary Clinton’s campaign and its involvement in the Steele dossier. The firm hired Williams & Connolly, lead by Dane Butswinkas, to fight the order. In a scathing opinion in May, Judge Beryl Howell declared the order targeting Perkins Coie illegal, calling Trump’s actions “an unprecedented attack” on the “foundational principles” of the American judicial system. In July, the Trump administration appealed the decision.

Perkins Coie, which counts Microsoft Corp, Amazon and Meta Platforms Inc as some of its clients, announced in early November that it would merge with UK-founded Ashurst to create Ashurst Perkins Coie, a 3,000-lawyer firm with 52 offices globally.

Jenner & Block

Jenner & Block was targeted by Trump over its previous employment of Andrew Weissmann, a former partner who worked on special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Jenner turned to Cooley for its successful fight against the EO, led by Michael Attanasio. Cooley hired former Biden Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar in August to lead its Supreme Court and appellate practice group.

In May, Judge John D. Bates of the US District Court for the District of Columbia found Trump’s order violated the firm’s First Amendment rights. Since its successful victory over Trump’s executive order, Jenner has brought on many notable lateral hires, including SDNY alum Andrew Rohrbach, who resigned in protest over the dismissal of the bribery investigation into New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and Damian Williams, the former SDNY chief, who jumped from Paul Weiss in June after just six months at the firm.

Susman Godfrey

Litigation powerhouse Susman Godfrey, which represented Dominion Voting Systems in its landmark defamation lawsuit against Fox News, was hit with an executive order on April 9. True to form, the firm, represented by Munger Tolles & Olson partner and former Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, filed its lawsuit challenging the EO just two days later. US District Court Judge Loren AliKhan struck down the president’s order on June 27.

WilmerHale

President Trump hit WilmerHale with an executive order over the firm’s ties for former special prosecutor Robert Mueller, a former partner at the firm. To fight the order, the firm turned to appellate superstars Paul Clement and Erin Murphy of Clement & Murphy. Clement, who was on Trump’s list of potential picks for US Supreme Court seats during the president’s first term, previously served as US solicitor general and has argued more than 100 cases before the US Supreme Court.

Attorney Paul Clement talks to the news media outside the U.S. Supreme Court.

Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The Dealmakers

New York-founded Paul Weiss was the second law firm hit with a Trump order, but instead of heading to court the firm struck a deal with Trump to provide $40 million in free legal services to support the administration’s initiatives, including aiding veterans and combatting antisemitism.

The firm has remained a target for protest, as seen in November when Chairman Brad Karp was heckled over the Trump deal. It has also seen a number of its top litigators leave including the co-head of its litigation department Karen Dunn.

Dunn, along with Bill Isaacson and Jeannie Rhee, left the firm to found Dunn Isaacson Rhee. The new firm welcomed several Paul Weiss attorneys since its inception in May.

Steve Banks, who had headed up Paul Weiss’ pro bono program but quit over the deals, just accepted the top lawyer job in incoming New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration.

Aside from Paul Weiss, eight other firms have struck a deal with Trump, amounting to nearly $1 billion in pro bono commitments from Willkie Farr & Gallagher, Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, A&O Shearman, Milbank, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft..

Cadwalader recently announced plans to merge with Hogan Lovells, raising questions about how much—if any—of their deal commitment will transfer over to the new firm once the combination is completed next year.

Questions also remain as to what work counts toward the firms’ pro bono commitments. Democrats in both houses of Congress have sought more information to little avail.

Paul Weiss, Kirkland, Skadden and Simpson have reportedly been working on a range of matters for the Commerce Department, though it’s unclear if that work is being done as part of the deals.

_{Podcast: Trump, Mergers and AI: A Tumultuous Year in the World of Big Law}