United States: On Thursday, U.S. law firm Susman Godfrey will petition a Washington judge to permanently block President Donald Trump’s executive order against it, declaring the move an act of retaliation that violated its rights under the U.S. Constitution, as reported by Reuters.
High-Stakes Hearing Set in Washington
The hearing by U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan will be the latest among a string of high-profile court battles over the orders by the Republican president aimed at big law firms due to their links with his political foes or actions they have taken.
Trump has been losing the legal battle so far, even as the judges have held his orders against four firms at bay and even scrapped one of them on May 2.
Executive Order Sparks Legal Showdown
According to a Bloomberg report, AliKhan will hear arguments for Susman Godfrey at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Last month, the Houston-based firm sued the administration, claiming that Trump’s executive order contravened constitutional rights to free speech and due process.
Trump Order Against Law Firm Susman Godfrey Faces Court Test | https://t.co/igEaydeWYl https://t.co/cYvJRbiCXP
— ConservativeLibrarian (@ConserLibrarian) May 8, 2025
Trump issued commands to Susman and three other firms, Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, and WilmerHale, that withheld security clearances from the lawyers, barred them from seeing government officials, and attempted to revoke federal contracts held by their client.
In its lawsuit, Susman Godfrey stated that Trump’s order was retaliation for defending the integrity of the 2020 presidential election that Trump didn’t win against Democrat Joe Biden.
The firm is representing election technology supplier Dominion Voting Systems in cases that contested false allegations that the election was stolen from Trump due to massive voting fraud.
Trump Administration Defends Actions
The U.S. DOJ has argued that Trump’s orders were lawful exercises of presidential power and admonished judges to sustain them.
Nine leading law firms, such as Paul Weiss, Skadden Arps, Latham & Watkins, and Kirkland & Ellis, have agreed with the White House to ensure they do not face such measures taken by the administration against them.
Judge Criticizes Legal Community Response
Such companies collectively promised almost $1 billion worth of free legal services and other concessions in their agreements with Trump. They have argued that the agreements were in line with their principles, as reported by Reuters.
Earlier in the Susman Godfrey case, AliKhan complained that the settling firms were “kowtowing” to the Trump White House.