For Immediate Release
WASHINGTON, D.C.—April 11, 2025 Late yesterday, 56 former leaders of bar associations in the District of Columbia filed amicus briefs in support of Jenner & Block LLP and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP in their challenges to the President’s “patently unlawful conduct” in barring those firms from representing the interest of clients before government agencies as well as imposing draconian sanctions on clients who exercise their right to choose their own trusted counsel in matters before federal government agencies.
“The President’s action being challenged in this litigation is not merely an attack on a single law firm (or small handful of major firms) but an assault on the vital underpinnings of the American legal process itself,” the briefs stated. “This assault is of special concern, though, to the vitality of the Rule of Law in the seat of government, where we and others have served as elected leaders.”
“It would be hard to imagine any action that poses a graver danger to the Rule of Law than allowing a President to blackball a law firm and its clients,” the brief continued. “This conduct is patently unlawful.”
These two briefs were signed by 20 former leaders of the District of Columbia Bar who signed an earlier amicus brief with similar arguments in Perkins Coie LLP v. U.S. Department of Justice, along with 36 other leaders of several of the District of Columbia’s voluntary bar associations including the Bar Association of the District of Columbia, the Women’s Bar Association, the National Bar Association, and The Washington Bar Association. A full list of signers is attached.
All these recently filed briefs affirm:
- The adversary system is an essential element of the legal order established by the U.S. Constitution and it relies on the effective functioning of an independent bar.
- One’s right to select counsel of one’s own choice is an indispensable corollary of this constitutional order.
- No government official may punish or blackball a lawyer or law firm simply for vigorously representing a client or cause that the official dislikes.
- The President’ retaliation against lawyers and law firms distorts the system of pro bono representation that is vital to the function of our system of justice.
Copies of the briefs can be found at https://dcleadersforruleoflaw.org/read-the-amicus/
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Media Contact: Angela Boone
202-329-7584
Spokesperson: Philip Allen Lacovara
917-412-9766
Former Deputy Solicitor General of the United States and former Counsel to the Special Prosecutor, Watergate Special Prosecution Force; who argued 17 U.S. Supreme Court cases including United States v. Nixon
AMICI CURIAE
Past Presidents of The District of Columbia Bar
(appearing in their individual capacities)
Charles R. Work (1976-1977)
Marna Tucker 1984-1985)
Philip Allen Lacovara (1988-1989)
Robert N. Weiner (1995-1996)
Myles V. Lynk (1996-1997)
Andrew H. Marks (1998-1999)
Joan H. Strand (1999-2000)
John W. Nields, Jr. (2000-2001)
John C. Keeney Jr. (2004-2005)
John C. Cruden (2005-2006)
James J. Sandman (2006-2007)
Melvin White (2007-2008)
Kim M. Keenan (2009-2010)
Andrea C. Ferster (2013-2014)
Annamaria Steward (2016-2017)
Patrick McGlone (2017-2018)
Susan M. Hoffman (2019-2020)
Other Former Leaders of The District of Columbia Bar
Katherine A. Mazzaferri (Executive Director, 1982-2010, Chief Executive Officer, 2010-2017)
Cynthia D. Hill (Assistant Executive Director for Programs, 1990-2010, Chief Programs Officer, 2010- 2017)
Maureen Thornton Syracuse (DC Bar Pro Bono Center, Director/Executive Director, 1992-2011)
Past Presidents of Voluntary Bars
(appearing in their individual capacities and listed alphabetically)
Jessica E. Adler, Past President of DC Women’s Bar Association (2013-2014)
Ralph P. Albrecht, Past President, The Bar Association of the District of Columbia (2008-2009)
Alfred F. Belcuore, National President, Federal Bar Association (1991-1992); DC Chapter President, American Board of Trial Advocates (2018-2024), President, The Counsellors, District of Columbia (2024-2025)
Constance L. Belfiore, Past President, Bar Association of the District of Columbia (1997-98)
Robert L. Bell, Past President, Washington Bar Association (2007-2008)
Joseph Cammarata, Past-President, Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, DC (2015-2016)
Harlow R Case, Past-President, Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, DC (1987-1988)
Paulette E. Chapman, Past President, Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia (2003-2004); Past President, Bar Association of the District of Columbia (2007-2008)
William E. Davis, Past President, Bar Association of the District of Columbia (2004-2005)
Karen E. Evans, Past President, Washington Bar Association (2014-2016); Past President, Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington DC (2012)
L. Palmer Foret, Past President, Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C. (2003-2004)
Iris McCollum Green, Past President, Washington Bar Association (2010-2012)
Kathleen Gunning, Past President, Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia (1991-1992)
David E. Hawkins, Past President, Bar Association of the District of Columbia (2013-2014)
David E. Haynes, Past President, Trial Lawyers Association of the District of Columbia (2016-2017)
Christopher G. Hoge, Past President, Bar Association of the District of Columbia (1998-99)
Ronald C. Jessamy, Sr., Past President, Washington Bar Association (2008 – 2010)
Matthew G. Kaiser, Past President, Bar Association of the District of Columbia (2017-18)
Nancy Aliquo Long, Past President, Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia (1996-1997); Women’s Bar Association Foundation (2014-2016)
Victor E. Long, Past President DC Trial Lawyers Association (2013-2014)
M. Elizabeth Medaglia, Past President, Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia (1982-83); Past President, Assistant United States Attorneys Association of DC (1984-85); Past President, Charles Fahy American Inn of Court (1990-92)
W. Charles Meltmar, Past-President, Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C. (2021-2022)
Sonia Murphy, Past President, Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia (2016-2017)
Dwight D. Murray, Past President, Bar Association of the District of Columbia (1996-97)
Michelle A. Parfitt, Past President, Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C. (2002-2003)
Patrick M. Regan, Past President, Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington D.C. (1991-92)
Sandra H. Robinson, Past-President, Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C. (1997-1998)
Ira Sherman, Past President, Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan D.C. (1993-1994)
Gwendolyn Simmons, Past President, Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia (1990-1991)
Gregory S. Smith, Past President, Bar Association of the District of Columbia (2011-12) Past President, Atlanta Bar Association (1998-99)
Suzanne M. Snedegar, Past President, Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia (1979-1980)
Jim Taglieri, Past-President, Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C. (1989-1990)
Lucy L. Thomson, Past President, Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia (1988-1989)
Kenneth M. Trombly, Past President, Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, DC (1994-1995)
Keith W. Watters, Past President, Bar Association of the District of Columbia, Washington Bar Association, National Bar Association
Salvatore J. Zambri, Past-President, Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, DC (2007-2008)
DC Leaders for Rule of Law 