American Bar Association sues Trump administration over law firm attacks

The American Bar Association (ABA) filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Washington, D.C., on Monday, seeking to block what it described as a campaign of intimidation by the Trump administration against major law firms.

The lawsuit asked the federal court to declare that several of the provisions in President Donald Trump's executive orders targeting major law firms are unconstitutional.

Those sections include things like terminating attorneys' security clearances, severing government contracts of law firms and their clients, limiting access to federal buildings and refraining from hiring employees of certain firms for jobs in the federal government.

The lawsuit said that Trump administration's attacks have produced a "chilling effect" across the legal profession, causing harm to the justice system and limiting access to representation for individuals and organizations whose positions the administration disfavors.

"Many attorneys are no longer willing to take on representations that would require suing the federal government," the lawsuit states. "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."

The lawsuit said that Trump administration's attacks violated First Amendment rights, including prohibitions on government coercion to suppress free speech, discrimination based on viewpoints held by lawyers and law firms, and the right of citizens to assemble freely and to petition the government.

"Never before has there been as urgent a need for the ABA to defend its members, their profession, and the rule of law itself," the lawsuit stated.

The association, with about 400,000 members, is the nation's largest voluntary association for lawyers.

The lawsuit marks an escalation in tensions between the association and the Trump administration, which has cut federal funding to the association and sought to limit its longstanding role in evaluating federal judicial nominees.

Four law firms have filed separate lawsuits challenging the administration's orders, which revoked their security clearances and terminated federal contracts. Three have received favorable rulings, while one case is still pending.

(With input from Xinhua)