Judge grills Trump administration over order against law firm Susman Godfrey

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Reuters

May 8, 2025 5:27 PM EDT Updated 10 hours ago


May 8 (Reuters) - U.S. law firm Susman Godfrey asked a judge in Washington on Thursday to permanently bar President Donald Trump's executive order against it, calling the measure an act of retaliation that trampled its rights under the U.S. Constitution. U.S.

District Judge Loren AliKhan sharply questioned a Justice Department lawyer representing Trump's administration, repeatedly asking how it could justify restricting the firm's access to government officials and contracting work without evidence of wrongdoing. "I'm not trying to browbeat you here, I'm just trying to figure out where the lines are" in the administration's arguments, AliKhan said.

The hearing marked the latest court clash over the Republican president's orders targeting major law firms for their connections to his political adversaries or cases they have taken. Trump has been losing the legal battle so far, after judges put his orders against four firms on hold and struck down one of them entirely on May 2. Susman Godfrey's lawsuit said Trump's order was in retaliation for its defense of the integrity of the 2020 presidential election that Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

The firm represents election technology supplier Dominion Voting Systems in cases that challenged false claims the election was stolen from Trump through widespread voting fraud. "The whole point of the Susman Godfrey executive order and those like it is to intimidate law firms into abandoning advocacy on behalf of their clients," the firm's lawyer Donald Verrilli told AliKhan at the hearing. "That is unconstitutional, full stop," Verrilli said.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-order-against-law-firm-susman-godfrey-faces-court-test-2025-05-08/

[Attilatheblond]

1. Kick, cuz this is important to keep an eye on

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. Judge Questions Basis for Trump Order Targeting Susman Godfrey

The attack on Susman Godfrey is mainly based on the fact that this firm beat the shit out of Fox News and got Fox to pay over $780 million in damages. This is a purely political attack that has no basis in law or fact.

Link to tweet

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and-practice/judge-questions-basis-for-trump-order-targeting-susman-godfrey

A DC federal judge on Thursday questioned the rationale for President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting law firm Susman Godfrey.

The April 9 order states the law firm “engages in unlawful discrimination” yet points to no examples that show such behavior, Judge Loren AliKhan of the US District Court for the District of Columbia said. “I just don’t see any evidence of that.”

AliKhan also questioned whether Trump was using his discretionary power to deny contracts to Susman clients, or if he was engaging in viewpoint discrimination because he doesn’t like positions the firm has taken. “I’m just trying to figure out where the lines are,” she said.

The hearing on whether AliKhan should strike down Trump’s order as unconstitutional followed the pattern of those in other courtrooms, with judges sounding skeptical of Trump’s authority to target law firms with the executive actions. US District Court Judge Beryl Howell on May 2 permanently blocked the order against Perkins Coie.

Susman sued the Trump administration last month, arguing that the order against the firm is vindictive, retaliatory, and violates the constitution. Similar to the directives against Perkins Coie, WilmerHale and Jenner & Block, the Susman order instructed agency heads to strip lawyers’ security clearances, restrict personnel from accessing federal buildings, and slash federal contracts held by the firm’s clients.

Houston-founded Susman is asking AliKhan to grant summary judgment to strike down the order without proceeding to a full trial.

I know several Susman attorneys. I am glad that they are fighting trump