TMP: “…Another major law firm – Milbank – capitulated and struck a deal with President Trump to avoid being unlawfully targeted by one of his executive orders. Meanwhile, Perkins Coie – one of the firm’s already targeted – filed a beautifully written memo (if you’re into that kind of thing) in its challenge of Trump’s executive order. None of the nation’s top 10 biggest law firms has signed on to a draft brief in support of Perkins Coie, the NYT reports…”

The New York Times: “In Trump’s Fight With Perkins Coie, the Richest Firms Are Staying Quiet. None of the nation’s top-10 firms by revenue have signed a legal brief demonstrating support for the law firm that is resisting an executive order. [See the Volokh Conspiracy – Law Professors’ Amicus Brief Supporting the Perkins Coie Law Firm in Challenge to Executive Order  The brief, just filed yesterday [April 2, 2025] in district court is here; I was pleased to be one of the very many signers. Here’s the Summary of Argument…”]  They are among the nation’s richest law firms, and they employ some of the most loquacious litigators. But with their industry under attack from President Trump, most of these leaders of Big Law are not speaking up to defend one of their own. For nearly three weeks, there has been a broad effort in the legal community to collect signatures from law firms for a so-called friend of the court brief supporting Perkins Coie, the first firm Mr. Trump targeted with an executive order in his retribution campaign against perceived enemies. Perkins Coie has sued, and a judge has temporarily blocked the president’s order, which jeopardized its ability to represent government contractors and limited its access to federal buildings. Most of the nation’s top firms by revenue were asked to sign the brief supporting Perkins Coie, according to people with knowledge of the matter, and all of them were made aware of the signature campaign. But so far, none of the top 10 firms has committed to signing, even after a soft deadline came and went on Tuesday, the people with knowledge of the matter said. Only a few firms in the top 50, as ranked by American Lawyer, have committed their signatures. The brief — drafted by Donald B. Verrilli Jr., a solicitor general during President Barack Obama’s administration — is meant to be a show of strength against Mr. Trump. And ahead of the deadline, more than 200 firms in total have signed, mostly midsize and boutique firms. Mr. Verrilli, a partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson, a prominent firm but not among the nation’s top revenue generators, is expected to submit the brief in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., as soon as Friday, the people with knowledge of the matter said. Firms can still sign before then, and if the signature gathering gains momentum some larger names might ultimately appear. Some of those larger firms have offered their signatures only if enough of their peers signed on as well, and several top-20 firms are still considering whether to sign, the people with knowledge of the matter said. The brief presents a gut check moment for the law firm industry, testing its resolve in the face of an attack on the core tenets of the profession. And the difficulty in getting signatures from the biggest firms like Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins, the industry’s top revenue generators, reflects a broader split among law firms since Mr. Trump began issuing executive orders against firms that he claimed were hostile to his administration…”