Trump, in abrupt reversal, to continue fight against Big Law firms

The Trump administration has changed its mind on its decision to walk away from appealing against its loss in lawsuits over executive orders targeted at four Big Law firms.

The US Justice Department on Tuesday afternoon moved to withdraw its motion to voluntarily dismiss the appeals of its cases against Perkins Coie, WilmerHale, Susman Godfrey and Jenner & Block.

The motion comes after the Justice Department on Tuesday sent an email to the four law firms signalling it would file the motion to withdraw its voluntary dismissal of its appeal less than 24 hours after saying it would drop the fight, confirmed a person familiar with the emails. News of the reversal was first reported by The New York Times.

The law firms opposed the government’s filing, the DOJ said in its motion: “Plaintiffs-Appellees oppose the government’s unexplained request to withdraw yesterday’s voluntary dismissal, to which all parties had agreed. Under no circumstances should the government’s unexplained about-face provide a basis for an extension of its brief.”

However, the DOJ said that regardless of this position, the court had not yet granted the motion to dismiss and “it is the prerogative of the defendant-appellants to pursue this appeal”.

The DOJ moved on Monday to withdraw its appeals of court rulings blocking Trump’s executive orders against Perkins Coie, Jenner, WilmerHale and Susman Godfrey issued last year.