In February 2025, the incoming Trump administration began targeting major law firms for representing clients or employing lawyers that the president disliked. This report analyzes the responses of those firms and the measures other firms have adopted to avoid government targeting. This report finds that while some of the targeted firms resisted through legal action, more gave in to demands and negotiated agreements with the administration, limiting themselves and offering promises of nearly 1 billion dollars in pro bono work on matters supported by the president, raising grave concerns about the commitment of major law firms to the independence of the legal profession. Additionally, the concessions granted to the administration by the targeted firms set a precedent for collaboration with far-reaching implications across the private sector.
Read the report’s findings
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Fear of retaliation, targeting, and financial loss were key factors affecting lawyers’ responses to the administration’s pressure. This fear led to beliefs within some firms that this pressure represented an existential threat, heightening pressure to concede to government demands.
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Efforts to oppose the administration’s pressure occurred, however, only on a limited scale. Out of the firms targeted, litigation for those resisting is still ongoing, and support has been widespread in the form of statements, publications, and amicus briefs published by other firms and independent lawyers.
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The actions taken by law firms responding to government pressure stand as examples to other industries also facing pressure to collaborate with the administration. Interviewees noted how firms that capitulated to the administration failed to model resistance to government overreach, an example that could have been set for other sectors, such as tech and media.
“I didn’t take an oath to uphold the balance sheet of my law firm.
But I did take an oath to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America.”
-Law Firm Partner, Jan. 2026
About The Author
Kathleen Hamill Esq. is an independent legal expert and researcher specializing in human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. She has authored research reports, policy briefs, amicus briefs, and book chapters addressing human rights law, business and human rights, refugee law, and international humanitarian law.
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