Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, WHITE HOUSE NEWS—In memo alleging ‘baseless partisan attacks’ in legal filings, Trump pushes AG to seek sanctions, misconduct charges, (Mar 24, 2025)
Organizations Mentioned:Secretary of Homeland Security
By Brandi O. Brown, J.D.
“I hereby direct the Attorney General to seek sanctions against attorneys and law firms who engage in frivolous, unreasonable, and vexatious litigation against the United States or in matters before executive departments and agencies of the United States.”
Citing as a “recent” example events allegedly occurring in 2016 and involving a law firm whose clients are Democrats, and further calling out the “immigration bar” and “Big Law pro bono practices,” the President over the weekend issued a memo, along with an accompanying fact sheet, in which he “direct[s] the Attorney General to seek sanctions against attorneys and law firms who engage in frivolous, unreasonable, and vexatious litigation against the United States or in matters before executive departments and agencies of the United States.”
The memo also directs the AG and Secretary of Homeland Security “to prioritize enforcement of their respective regulations governing attorney conduct and discipline.”
Additionally, President Trump directed the AG to:
“[T] ake all appropriate action to refer for disciplinary action any attorney whose conduct in Federal court or before any component of the Federal Government appears to violate professional conduct rules, including rules governing meritorious claims and contentions, and particularly in cases that implicate national security, homeland security, public safety, or election integrity. In complying with this directive, the Attorney General shall consider the ethical duties that law partners have when supervising junior attorneys, including imputing the ethical misconduct of junior attorneys to partners or the law firm when appropriate.”
He also directed the AG to recommend additional steps including reassessment of security clearances and to “review conduct by attorneys or their law firms in litigation against the Federal Government over the last 8 years.”
Elias Law Group responds. The chair of the law group name-dropped in this most recent memo responded to the attack, stating:
“President Trump is attempting to dismantle the constitution and attack the rule of law in his obsessive pursuit of retribution against his political opponents. Today’s White House Memo targets not only me and my law firm, but every attorney and law firm who dares to challenge his assault on the rule of law.
“President Trump’s goal is clear. He wants lawyers and law firms to capitulate and cower until there is no one left to oppose his Administration in court.
“Elias Law Group will not be deterred from fighting for democracy in court. There will be no negotiation with this White House about the clients we represent or the lawsuits we bring on their behalf.
“Our democracy is in peril, and the decisions made by lawyers and their firms may very well determine the future of the rule of law in the United States.”
Civil rights groups speak out. The ACLU, along with over 20 other civil rights organizations, issued a joint statement condemning the memo and indicting it for compromising DOJ’s independence. They explain:
“Taken together, this memorandum – coupled with the recently-issued executive orders targeting specific law firms and individual lawyers who have brought legal challenges against President Trump and his former or current administration and ongoing attacks on the judiciary – is a dangerous tactic seeking to prevent the legal system from operating as an independent check on government authority. These actions place the continuing viability of our democracy at risk and should alarm the public. We call on the judiciary, bar associations, law firms, and individual lawyers to speak out against this dangerous assault on the legal profession and the rule of law, hold firm in defending and facilitating the lawful and ethical practice of law, and stand ready to scrutinize and hold the government accountable for its own unethical and unlawful conduct in pursuit of this administration’s aims.”
Although not one of the organizations that joined in issuing the statement, the American Bar Association has previously called out the Trump Administration’s “efforts to intimidate” the legal profession.
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