Overview

• The Trump administration issued executive orders in February directing agencies to strip security clearances and bar firms representing political opponents from federal contracts.
• Four firms—Jenner & Block, Perkins Coie, WilmerHale and Susman Godfrey—successfully sued, winning injunctions that labeled the orders unconstitutional acts of retaliation.
• Legal executives at over a dozen major companies, including Oracle, Morgan Stanley and McDonald’s, have rerouted work away from firms that made deals with the administration.
• Firms that contested the orders report an influx of new business as corporate clients reward their legal challenges.
• Deal-making firms face internal dissent and departures, including four senior partners leaving Paul Weiss and Microsoft briefly removing Latham & Watkins over conflict-of-interest concerns.