Trump's campaign against law firms sees setback as judge blocks order

US President Donald Trump's campaign against the legal profession hit another setback as a federal judge struck down an executive order that sought to sanction one of the country's most prestigious law firms.

The ruling on Tuesday in favour of WilmerHale marks the third time this month that a federal judge in Washington has deemed Trump's series of law firm executive orders to be unconstitutional and permanently barred their enforcement.

The cornerstone of the American system of justice is an independent judiciary and an independent bar willing to tackle unpopular cases, however daunting. The Founding Fathers knew this! wrote US district judge Richard Leon.

To permit the order to stand, Leon wrote, would be unfaithful to the judgment and vision of the Founding Fathers". 

The firm applauded the ruling from Leon, an appointee of former Republican president George W Bush.

The court's decision to permanently block the unlawful executive order in its entirety strongly affirms our foundational constitutional rights and those of our clients. We remain proud to defend our firm, our people, and our clients, a spokesperson for the firm said.

The ruling was similar to the one from Friday by a different judge that rejected a Trump edict against the firm of Jenner and Block and another one from earlier in the month in favour of the firm Perkins Coie.

Taken together, the decisions have marked a blunt repudiation of Trump's actions, which the law firms have called an affront to the legal system and inconsistent with the foundational principle that lawyers can represent clients or causes without government reprisal.

The firms faced executive orders that sought to impose the same set of punishing sanctions, including mandating the suspension of attorney security clearances and barring employees from accessing federal buildings. 

The orders have been part of a broader effort by the president to reshape American civil society by targeting perceived adversaries in hopes of extracting concessions from them and bending them to his will.

In his ruling, Leon said the provisions of the order against WilmerHale constitute a staggering punishment for the firm's protected speech! The Order is intended to, and does in fact, impede the firm's ability to effectively represent its clients!  He added: The Order shouts through a bullhorn: If you take on causes disfavoured by President Trump, you will be punished!  Several of the firms singled out for sanctions have either done legal work that Trump has opposed, or currently have or previously had associations with prosecutors who at one point investigated the president.

The order against WilmerHale, for instance, cited the fact that the firm previously employed former Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller, who led an investigation during Trump's first term into potential ties between Russia and Trump's 2016 campaign.

Other major firms have sought to avert orders by preemptively reaching settlements that require them, among other things, to collectively dedicate hundreds of millions of dollars in free legal services in support of causes the Trump administration says it supports.