6 March, 2026

This has been a week of heavy headlines coming out of the US. The outcome of a long running feud between Trump and law firms has, unsurprisingly, not been centre stage.  But we think it’s worth highlighting a struggle between Trump and business leaders who are standing up for their principles, freedoms and the rule of law.   

Last year, Trump signed a set of executive orders attempting to punish major law firms in the US which had historically taken on cases he didn’t favour. Nine firms capitulated, taking what might generously be cast as a pragmatic decision. They agreed to donate millions in pro bono work for causes favoured by Trump and scaled back DEI initiatives, among other steps designed to placate him.  

But four firms — Jenner & Block, Susman Godfrey, Perkins Coie and WilmerHale — chose a different path. They pushed back, and they filed lawsuits. Federal judges supported their stand and struck down the executive orders used against them. This week, the Trump administration abandoned its appeals of those rulings, appearing to accept defeat before then seemingly changing its mind again. 

Fighting this battle was far from a given. The state’s intervention imposed operational costs and posed real threats to the firms involved. Yet we believe what initially appeared to be a short‑term risk will still prove to be the right course of action.  

The firms are helped by the fact that resistance did not happen in isolation. Other law firms stepped in to represent them. Corporate clients, including Microsoft, either stood by them or shifted their business away from firms that had capitulated. And the message to clients was clear: we won’t compromise on the law and we have the courage to stand firm.  

This is evidence of both the ascendance of fightback and the power of collective action to shift the pendulum towards progressive, values‑based business and sustainability.  

While the latest twist in the tale makes the outcome less certain than it seemed days ago, the firms won’t back down. As Susman Godfrey put it: they’re fighting for themselves but for bigger things, too, “for a Constitution that protects our freedoms; for a legal profession that depends on equal justice under the law; and for the people across this country who refuse to back down in the face of an administration that seeks to silence and intimidate them.”  

By Sarah Forero