Perkins claps back in Trump case, as another firm settles

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By Diana Novak Jones, Mike Scarcella and Sara Merken

Good morning. Perkins Coie asked a federal judge to reject the president's executive order sanctioning it. Plus, the SEC is shaking up its enforcement and exams divisions; Boeing is working with the DOJ on a revised plea deal; and a U.S. judicial panel voted to abandon a core part of a proposed rule aimed at increasing disclosure of who funds amicus briefs. Let's dive in.

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Perkins Coie asked a federal judge in D.C. to reject President Trump's executive order sanctioning it over its hiring practices and legal work for Democrat Hillary Clinton, calling the measure a threat to the firm and the legal profession more broadly.

"The Constitution does not permit our elected leaders, from any party, to punish lawyers by fiat for representing clients who oppose their political agendas," attorneys for Perkins Coie at Williams & Connolly said in a court filing. "It would set a grave precedent for our Republic if the order were allowed to stand."

Perkins Coie said a permanent injunction against Trump's order was necessary to help maintain existing clients and to attract new ones. The firm said that if Trump's order were left in place "it would put the firm's solvency and very existence at risk."

The filing came just hours after Milbank became the fourth major U.S. law firm to reach an agreement with the Trump administration. Trump said the terms reached with the firm require it to perform $100 million in pro bono legal services on mutually agreed causes such as helping veterans and combating antisemitism. Milbank Chairman Scott Edelman told the firm that "the only commitments that we have made to the Government are those that we are happy to make."

—U.S. District Judge Dale Ho in Manhattan, in a 78-page ruling dismissing corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Ho said he had little choice but to dismiss the indictment because U.S. courts lack the authority to compel prosecutors to pursue charges. But he said the DOJ's decision to seek dismissal of the charges was troubling because individuals' criminal liability should not depend on whether they support the administration's policies. Read more.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi's Feb. 5 enforcement memo created a seismic shift for the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the effects of which are yet to be seen, write Ki Hong, Charles Ricciardelli and Alexa Santry of Skadden Arps. Corporations have struggled for years to divine the scope of FARA's exemption for certain types of commercial activity. Read today's Attorney Analysis.

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