A group of more than 750 partners at top 200 US law firms have teamed up to file an amicus brief in support of Susman Godfrey’s bid to quash President Donald Trump’s executive order against it.

The brief was submitted to the US District Court for the District Court of Columbia on Friday (25 April) by the recently formed group Law Firm Partners United (LFPU).

“The executive orders targeting Susman Godfrey and other law firms threaten the legal profession, the judiciary and the rule of law,” states the brief, which is signed by a representative group of partners, all acting in a personal capacity.

LFPU was born as a LinkedIn group and has subsequently set itself up as a non-profit organisation. Its stated mission is to “bring together partners at AmLaw 200 law firms to find ways to express our point of view on the rule of law when our firms choose to lie silent”.

The brief is one of a number that have been submitted in support of Susman and the other law firms fighting executive orders: Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block and WilmerHale.

The LFPU’s intervention is, however, notable due to the reluctance of most top law firms to speak out against Trump’s targeting of firms he maintains have supported efforts to unfairly prosecute him or help his opponents, alongside a broader effort by his administration to challenge diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

One of the signatories to the LFPU amicus brief is Nisha Verma, head of Dorsey & Whitney’s California labour and employment group, who wrote in a LinkedIn post: “... the question is, am I willing to risk anything for this profession that has given me everything? 

“Ultimately I decided I am, because newer lawyers deserve at least as many years as I had to practise with the independence our profession should, in normal times, afford them.”

To date, nine firms, including Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, A&O Shearman, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Paul Weiss have pledged $940m in free legal work in order to head off action by Trump over their DEI policies.

Susman believes it has been targeted for securing Dominion Voting Systems a multimillion-dollar settlement against Fox News over false claims the network aired following the 2020 White House election.

Like the other orders being challenged, the one targeting Susman restricted its employees’ access to federal buildings, instructed agencies to terminate contracts with the firm and its clients and revoked its lawyers’ security clearances. 

All four firms have secured rulings temporarily blocking key elements of the orders.

The LFPU brief contends that the executive order “violates a litany of independent First Amendment guarantees”, including “the bar on retaliation for protected speech” as well as guarantees of right to counsel and due process contained in the Fifth and Sixth Amendments.

It states: “Susman was singled out because the executive branch disapproves of some of its representation where it won in civil cases between private parties – work that nearly all law firms engage in. Orders like this tell the entire profession that taking on cases and clients that are out of favour with the current administration may result in severe retaliation.”

Meanwhile, today Jenner is presenting its case for summary judgment against its order in oral arguments to US District Judge John Bates in the US District Court for the District Court of Columbia.