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The US government is expected to drop its legal effort to enforce punitive executive orders targeting top law firms, abandoning a fight that rocked Big Law after Donald Trump’s return to the presidency, according to people familiar with the matter.
The White House is set to terminate its appeal efforts in four cases involving Jenner & Block, Perkins Coie, Wilmer Hale and Susman Godfrey, potentially as soon as Monday, the people said.
The Department of Justice declined to comment. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The executive orders would have suspended lawyers’ security clearances allowing them to review sensitive materials or scrutinised some contracts with the government, but the four firms successfully sued the administration to block them from taking effect.
Trump last year issued executive orders targeting a string of law firms as part of a broader crackdown against perceived opponents in Big Law, including groups that employed lawyers who worked on investigations targeting him during his first presidential term. Several firms cut deals with the White House in which they agreed to support Trump’s preferred causes with pro bono work.
The government has yet to submit a court filing and could decide to continue pursuing its appeals. It had been due to file a brief in the case this week.
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