Judge Calls Trump WilmerHale Order ‘Retaliatory’ in Hearing (1)

A federal judge on Wednesday pushed a lawyer from the Department of Justice to show how President Donald Trump’s order targeting law firm WilmerHale could stand up to legal scrutiny.

Deputy associate attorney general Richard Lawson said sections 2,3 and 5 of the executive order were not punishment and Judge Richard Leon replied, “But how is it not?”

Judge Leon of the US District Court District of Columbia is being asked by WilmerHale to grant summary judgment to the law firm, which would strike down the order as unconstitutional without proceeding to a full trial. He did not issue a ruling from the bench Wednesday and said it could be weeks before he does.

WilmerHale is represented by Paul Clement, Erin Murphy and other attorneys from Clement & Murphy.

“To take something granted on an individualized basis and suspend across the board is unprecedented,” Clement said referencing the order’s revocation of Wilmer Hale security clearances.

“The message to the bar is watch out,” Clement said. “You can’t practice law in that environment.”

Clement has previously served as US solicitor general and was on Trump’s list of potential picks for Supreme Court seats during the president’s first term. He has argued more than 100 cases before the country’s highest court.

The order, like similar ones faced by Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block and Susman Godfrey, instructs federal agencies to limit interactions with WilmerHale lawyers and to potentially cancel government contracts with the law firm’s clients. Those and other punitive measures were tied to WilmerHale’s previous relationship with Robert Mueller, who served as a special prosecutor investigating the Trump campaign’s ties to Russian officials.

A WilmerHale spokesperson said “Today, we fiercely defended the foundational constitutional rights to counsel and free speech, building on the successful arguments that prevented the unlawful Executive Order from taking effect. We remain confident the court will permanently block the order.”

Department of Justice lawyers in the case have included Chad Mizelle, acting associate attorney general, and deputy associate attorney general Lawson.

The case is: Wilmer Cuter Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP v. Executive Office of The President, D.D.C., 1:25-cv- 00917, 4/23/25.