District of Columbia

Lawyer for ABA, foreign-aid recipients tells DC Circuit US must spend appropriated ‘pots of money’

Congress in 2024 “appropriated very specific pots of money for foreign assistance purposes” and required the executive branch to spend the full amount, a lawyer representing the ABA and other groups challenging funding cutoffs told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Monday.

Jul 8, 2025 1:35 PM CDT

US will appeal Perkins Coie win in fight over punitive executive order

The federal government will appeal a judge’s decision permanently blocking an executive order targeting Perkins Coie.

Jul 1, 2025 11:41 AM CDT

Trump executive order ‘cuts Susman off at the knees,’ judge says, permanently blocking it

A fourth federal judge has granted a permanent injunction blocking President Donald Trump from targeting law firms because of the clients they represent and the causes that they back.

Jun 30, 2025 10:49 AM CDT

These 4 conservative law firms are thriving under Trump

Jones Day played a prominent role in the first presidency of President Donald Trump. The law firm represented Trump in his first presidential campaign and sent several lawyers to work in the administration, including Don McGahn, who was the White House counsel. But Jones Day “hasn’t had the same prominence in Trump circles this time around,” the Wall Street Journal reports. Now, several smaller, conservative firms are seeing “boom times.”

Jun 26, 2025 1:31 PM CDT

Nonlawyers can partly own law firms in Puerto Rico under revised ethics rules

Puerto Rico has enacted new lawyer ethics rules that allow nonlawyers to have an ownership interest in law firms, a departure from Model Rule 5.4 of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct on professional independence.

Jun 25, 2025 2:59 PM CDT

Attacks on rule of law will fail because lawyers ‘are fierce’ and ‘very resourceful,’ says DC Bar president-elect

“Lawyers are fighters, and judges will follow the law,” says Diane Seltzer, the president-elect of the D.C. Bar for the 2025-2026 term. “We are fierce; we care deeply about justice; and we are very, very resourceful in finding ways to make sure we prevail.”

Jun 20, 2025 11:17 AM CDT

In opinion with 26 exclamation points, judge finds order against WilmerHale is ‘staggering punishment’

An executive order with a “kitchen sink of severe sanctions” against Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr is unconstitutional, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled Tuesday.

May 28, 2025 10:32 AM CDT

Executive order against Jenner & Block is ‘doubly violative of the Constitution,’ judge says in ruling for firm

President Donald Trump’s executive order against Jenner & Block violates the First Amendment by punishing the law firm for its causes and clients and by chilling legal representation, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled Friday.

May 27, 2025 11:50 AM CDT

Judge temporarily reinstates ABA domestic violence grants, finding US likely retaliated for protected speech

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled for the ABA on Wednesday in its challenge to termination of federal domestic violence grants used to train and offer technical support to lawyers who help survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.

May 15, 2025 10:34 AM CDT

US suspends security clearances for lawyers at WilmerHale, Jenner as they challenge Trump orders

Updated: The Trump administration has suspended security clearances for two lawyers at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr and one lawyer at Jenner & Block, law firms that sued after they were targeted in punitive executive orders.

May 14, 2025 2:42 PM CDT

Trump will replace polarizing DC US attorney pick Ed Martin

President Donald Trump will replace interim U.S. attorney Ed Martin, his embattled nominee to serve as the top prosecutor for D.C., after 15 tumultuous weeks in office marked by his threats to investigate Trump’s perceived political adversaries and firings and demotions of career prosecutors who investigated the president and the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack.

May 8, 2025 2:10 PM CDT

Lawyer for ABA, foreign-aid recipients tells DC Circuit US must spend appropriated ‘pots of money’

US will appeal Perkins Coie win in fight over punitive executive order

Trump executive order ‘cuts Susman off at the knees,’ judge says, permanently blocking it

These 4 conservative law firms are thriving under Trump

Nonlawyers can partly own law firms in Puerto Rico under revised ethics rules

Attacks on rule of law will fail because lawyers ‘are fierce’ and ‘very resourceful,’ says DC Bar president-elect

In opinion with 26 exclamation points, judge finds order against WilmerHale is ‘staggering punishment’

Executive order against Jenner & Block is ‘doubly violative of the Constitution,’ judge says in ruling for firm

Judge temporarily reinstates ABA domestic violence grants, finding US likely retaliated for protected speech

US suspends security clearances for lawyers at WilmerHale, Jenner as they challenge Trump orders

Trump will replace polarizing DC US attorney pick Ed Martin

‘Let’s kill the lawyers I don’t like’ is Shakespearean approach of Trump order against Perkins Coie, judge says

Boutique law firm is talent pipeline for conservative lawyers

Acting US attorney once orchestrated Facebook posts criticizing judge presiding in his case, report says

‘Is this a throwback to the McCarthy era?’ Judges consider injunction bids by firms targeted in Trump orders

Topics: Career & Practice

Twin daughters of BigLaw couple among Texas flood victims; 'we are devastated,' family says

Your Voice

Civics Education: A teachable moment about the meaning of 'rule of law'

Podcasts

Barrister's new mystery novel offers glimpse inside the Inner Temple