Perkins Come LLP Total Victory
The memorandum opinion is at https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.278290/gov.uscourts.dcd.278290.185.0_1.pdf . The first paragraph gives you the tone of the opinion
No American President has ever before issued executive orders like the one at issue in this lawsuit targeting a prominent law firm with adverse actions to be executed by all Executive branch agencies but, in purpose and effect, this action draws from a playbook as old as Shakespeare, who penned the phrase: “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, HENRY VI, PART 2, act 4, sc. 2, l. 75. When Shakespeare’s character, a rebel leader intent on becoming king, see id. l. 74, hears this suggestion, he promptly incorporates this tactic as part of his plan to assume power, leading in the same scene to the rebel leader demanding “[a]way with him,” referring to an educated clerk, who “can make obligations and write court hand,” id. l. 90, 106. Eliminating lawyers as the guardians of the rule of law removes a major impediment to the path to more power. See Walters v. Nat’l Ass’n of Radiation Survivors, 473 U.S. 305, 371 n.24 (1985) (Stevens, J., dissenting) (explaining the import of f the same Shakespearean statement to be “that disposing of lawyers is a step in the direction of a totalitarian form of government”).
Congratulations to our classmate F. Lane Heard, and his colleagues at Williams & Connolly LLP who represented Perkins.
Don’t get too ecstatic about this victory. You can see another example of anticipatory compliance (not capitulation) this time from Davis Polk The court resistance, like the people’s resistance, is growing and consolidating, but is still a work in progress and may be able to stop and push back many of the attacks on our institutions, but will probably not be able to reverse or stop all the attacks. Consider if you work for the Trump administration. Will it be very hard for you to respond more slowly to Perkins Coie LLP than to Davis Polk, and how easy will it be for Perkins to show this is part of a deliberate policy? Yes I know with Trump’s big mouth, probably not too difficult.