'Deliberate policy to intimidate and coerce': American Bar Association sues Trump for targeting law firms
16 June
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 11, 2025.
The American Bar Association (ABA) sued nearly every top federal government official Monday over President Donald Trump’s efforts to “intimidate” law firms and lawyers.
Accusing the president of adopting a “deliberate policy designed to intimidate and coerce law firms and lawyers,” the group filed a lawsuitin Chicago.
“Many attorneys are no longer willing to take on representations that would require suing the federal government,” the lawsuit said.
It continued: “Others have dropped ongoing representations; ended their participation in contemplated cases; or declined representations – even of clients with whom they had longstanding prior attorney-client relationships – not because the merits of the case were weak or the attorney had some substantive objection to taking the case, but because the representation was deemed too likely to result in severe retaliation from the President pursuant to the Intimidation Policy.”
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The ABA picked Susman Godfrey, one of the firms targeted by Trump, to file the lawsuit.
The lawsuit seems to stem from ongoing tensions and adversarial dynamics between much of the American legal establishment and the Trump administration.
Since Trump assumed office, the Justice Department has consistently pushed back against the ABA.
DOJ lawyers are now barred from taking part in ABA events, a break from long-standing tradition.
At the time, Attorney General Pam Bondi criticized the organization, stating that it could no longer be trusted to impartially assess judicial candidates.
AlterNet reached out to the DOJ for comment.