Law firm Milbank defends NJ cities in Trump immigration lawsuit
A team of Milbank lawyers is representing Newark and Hoboken in the case in federal court, new court papers showed this week. They include former Obama-era acting U.S. Solicitor General Neal Katyal and Gurbir Grewal, a former New Jersey attorney general and enforcement head at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Trump administration in May sued Newark, Hoboken and other New Jersey cities, accusing them of being so-called sanctuary jurisdictions and obstructing federal immigration agents. The lawsuit, filed in Newark, was part of the White House's broader hardline campaign against immigration.
Milbank, Katyal, Grewal and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
New York-headquartered Milbank is one of nine firms that reached deals with Trump in March and April, after he began issuing executive orders against law firms that restricted their access to government officials and federal contracting work. Four other law firms successfully sued to block Trump's orders against them.
Trump in his orders alleged major firms had "weaponized" the legal system through politicized cases and hires, and accused them of illegal employment practices focused on racial diversity.
To rescind or head off such orders, the settling firms pledged nearly $1 billion in free legal services to mutually agreed-upon initiatives with the White House, among other concessions. Milbank, which had not been hit with an executive order, said it earmarked $100 million.
Milbank Chairman Scott Edelman in a letter to the firm in April said the administration had approached it with concerns about its pro bono and diversity initiatives, suggesting it make a deal.
The New Jersey case is one of at least three in which Milbank now represents Trump's legal opponents.
Katyal represents a former federal official suing over what she said was her wrongful termination from a board overseeing employment complaints by government workers. He is also representing a group of five small businesses that sued to challenge Trump's across-the-board taxes on imports from nations that sell more to the United States than they buy. The administration has appealed a ruling the plaintiffs won in May.
Milbank hired Grewal last year from the SEC, where he had led enforcement efforts since 2021.
Katyal joined the firm in February from rival law firm Hogan Lovells, and now leads Milbank's appellate team. He has argued more than 50 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The case is United States v. City of Newark et al, U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, No. 2:25-cv-05081-EP-AME.
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