Today, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) filed an amicus brief supporting the law firm Susman Godfrey in its attempt to prevent the enforcement of an executive order that punishes the firm for providing legal representation to a client that the President disfavors. The case is currently before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and a temporary restraining order has been granted to keep the administration from enforcing the order until the firm’s legal claims are resolved.
The brief draws parallels to an overlooked tactic used by Southern state governments to resist school desegregation following the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision: the attempted intimidation of civil rights lawyers and civil rights organizations. The brief also argues that the executive order interferes with the constitutionally protected right to counsel and unlawfully punishes Susman Godrey without due process.
Janai Nelson, President and Director-Counsel of LDF released the following statement:
“We are pleased to see more law firms resist the president’s plainly unlawful attempts to avoid accountability and undermine the rule of law. The executive order targeting Susman Godfrey is the Trump administration’s latest attempt to undermine the independence of the legal profession and chill lawyers, law firms, and civil society organizations from advocating for clients who dare to hold the government accountable.
“This is not about ideology or personal beliefs. Encroachment on the rule of law threatens to turn even the healthiest democracy into an autocracy. As an organization that has experienced similar attacks throughout its 85-year history, LDF will continue drawing attention to abuses of executive power and stand in solidarity with the lawyers and law firms who sustain our democracy.”
With today’s filing, LDF has now submitted briefs in each of the four cases challenging the Trump administration’s attempts to punish law firms. You can read the others here: Perkins Coie v. Department of Justice; WilmerHale v. Executive Office of the President; Jenner & Block v. Department of Justice.
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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation’s first civil rights law organization. LDF’s Equal Protection Initiative seeks to defend and advance the proper interpretation of the Equal Protection Clause and anti-discrimination law so that we can all continue to advance equal opportunity for all. In media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Please note that LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957—although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights.
