Biglaw Suits Against Trump Both Reassigned To New Judges
When Jenner & Block and WilmerHale filed their lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s retaliatory executive orders against them, they were initially assigned to Judge Beryl Howell on the grounds that the cases were factually and legally related to the Perkins Coie lawsuit randomly assigned to Judge Howell already. The orders are virtually cut and paste jobs stripping the firms of access and threatening further DOJ action based on vague claims of un-American activity and a heavy dose of long-standing grudges against lawyers who’ve whupped Trump in the past.
But Judge Howell has spared us the inevitable all caps Truth Social post bemoaning the assignment by sending the cases back to the wheel of fate for assignment. For Jenner…
Although both law firms are being targeted in similar ways in these separate Executive Orders, the facts of each case differ: the punitive measures imposed on Perkins Coie arise solely from the firm’s representation of clients disliked by the President, while the punitive measures imposed on Jenner & Block in this new case arise, in part, from the firm’s representation of clients disliked by the President but also, in part, from professional work performed at the United States Department of Justice by a former Jenner & Block partner who was not affiliated with the law firm at the time of the work to which the President objects.
And for WilmerHale:
Although both law firms are being targeted in similar ways in these separate Executive Orders, the facts of each case differ: the punitive measures imposed on Perkins Coie arise solely from the firm’s representation of clients disliked by the President, while the punitive measures imposed on WilmerHale in this new case arise, in part, from the firm’s representation of clients disliked by the President but also, in part, from professional work performed by current WilmerHale employees while employed by the U.S. Department of Justice and not affiliated with the firm.
It’s not particularly compelling to basically use Mail Merge to write two different orders ostensibly about how unique the cases are. But discretion is the better part of valor, so every case is getting its own judge.
Jenner & Block’s case is now assigned to Senior Judge John Bates and WilmerHale’s is now assigned to Senior Judge Richard Leon. Both are George W. Bush appointees, not that it matters to this administration who is willing to call Attila the Hun a corrupt Antifa radical if they find themselves even remotely crosswise with Trump.
The decision to move the cases comes after Judge Boasberg found himself on both the “No Laws When We’ve Already Deported Them” case and what’s come to be known as the “WhiskiLeaks” case of Pete Hegseth and the national security stooges groupchatting war plans to random journalists.
Heartening to hear conservatives so deeply concerned about the need for random judge assignment after months of flat-out batshit ranting that astroturfed plaintiffs have a God-given right to send its craziest asks to a courthouse with a 1-in-1 chance of getting a movement partisan-turned-federal judge to issue a nationwide injunction. Republicans had a full meltdown over the Judicial Conference trying to introduce more random assignment to the process in a bid to protect the credibility of the system. But now, apparently, random assignment is a bedrock principle of justice… as long as it helps them out.
Well, justified or not, they’re getting their wish. Each case now has its own judge for Elon Musk to bitch about impeaching.
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.
