April 8, 2025

The Chicago Bar Association Joins Nationwide Coalition of Bar Associations to File Amicus Brief in Support of Perkins Coie

The CBA and 15 other bar associations filed an amicus brief supporting Perkins Coie’s challenge to a presidential executive order targeting the firm, which, the brief argues, “threaten[s] to turn the Bar into an instrument of the executive branch.”

The brief, coordinated by the New York City Bar Association, asks the US District Court for the District of Columbia to grant summary judgment for the firm and enjoin the order.

“The CBA stands in support of law firms targeted by the administration. These actions violate the fundamental tenets of our nation’s legal system, including the core principle that everyone is entitled to legal counsel,” said CBA President John C. Sciaccotta.  “We are proud to join our colleagues from across the nation to defend the rule of law and support the essential role of the legal profession in our society. The CBA will always be steadfast for the rule of law and champions for our legal profession.”

The brief argues that “coercing lawyers to replace their loyalty to clients with loyalty to the President would deprive clients of effective and ethical legal representation. Without vigorous advocacy by lawyers independent of the executive, the judiciary is unable to fulfill its constitutional role of checking unlawful action in our system of separated powers. It erodes the strength of our adversarial system and thus diminishes the proper functioning of the judiciary on which the rule of law itself depends.”  Read the full brief here.

The following bar associations signed the brief:

Metropolitan Bar Associations:

New York City Bar Association
Boston Bar Association
Chicago Bar Association
Denver Bar Association
King County Bar Association (Seattle)
Los Angeles County Bar Association
Philadelphia Bar Association
San Diego County Bar Association

Affinity, Specialty, Regional, and Local Bar Associations:

Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area
Brehon Law Societies of New York City and Nassau County
Bar Association of Erie County
Garden State Bar Association
Metropolitan Black Bar Association
Monroe County Bar Association
Muslim Bar Association of New York
Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York