Trump, in Abrupt Reversal, to Continue Fight Against Law Firms

The Trump administration has changed its mind on its decision to walk away from appealing its loss in lawsuits over executive orders targeted at four Big Law firms.

The Justice Department on Tuesday afternoon moved to withdraw its motion to voluntarily dismiss the appeals of its cases against Perkins Coie, WilmerHale, Susman Godfrey and Jenner & Block.

The motion comes after the Justice Department on Tuesday sent an email to the four law firms signaling it would file the motion to withdraw its voluntary dismissal of its appeal less than 24 hours after saying it would drop the fight, confirmed a person familiar with the emails. News of the reversal was first reported by the New York Times.

The law firms opposed the government’s filing, the DOJ said in its motion: “Plaintiffs-Appellees oppose the government’s unexplained request to withdraw yesterday’s voluntary dismissal, to which all parties had agreed. Under no circumstances should the government’s unexplained about-face provide a basis for an extension of its brief.”

However, the DOJ said that regardless of this position, the court had not yet granted the motion to dimiss and “it is the perogative of the Defendent-Appellants to purse this appeal.”

The DOJ moved yesterday to withdraw its appeals of court rulings blocking Trump’s executive orders against Perkins Coie, Jenner, WilmerHale and Susman Godfrey issued last year. The EOs revoked lawyers’ security clearances, blocked their access to federal buildings, and threatened their clients’ government contracts.

Federal judges swiftly struck down the orders, ruling that they were unconstitutional in separate rulings and the DOJ sought to appeal.

In an email to the four firms sent on Tuesday morning, the Justice Department asked the firms to inform the DOJ if they would oppose its motion to withdraw its voluntary dismissal.

Representatives for the four law firms could not be reached immediately for comment. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to request for comment.

The case is: Jenner and Block LLP v DOJ, D.C. Cir., No. 25-05265, 3/3/26.

To contact the reporter on this story: Meghan Tribe in New York at mtribe@bloomberglaw.com

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chris Opfer at copfer@bloombergindustry.com; John Hughes at jhughes@bloombergindustry.com; Alessandra Rafferty at arafferty@bloombergindustry.com

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.