This Boston law firm helped bring down Senator McCarthy in 1954. Now it's taking on Trump.

Boston Globe

08-04-2025

History may have something to say, too.
Related
:
WilmerHale, headquartered in Boston and D.C., notes in its complaint that a lawyer from predecessor firm Hale and Dorr is credited with bringing down then-Senator Joseph McCarthy's fear-mongering efforts to expose supposed communists in the 1950s. During the nationally televised Army-McCarthy hearings, bow-tied Boston lawyer
in books, law schools, and even
Get Starting Point
A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.
Enter Email
Sign Up
In his attacks on Big Law, Trump has pointed to other supposed sins, such as encouraging diversity in hiring or championing voters' rights. But there's a recurring theme: Trump's perceived enemies are named as reasons for his attacks. In other words, it's payback time.
Advertisement
Trump touched on all these talking points in his
Advertisement
Similar to other attacks, the salvo against WilmerHale attempts to limit access to courthouses and other government buildings, suspend federal security clearances, and terminate federal government contracts.
Several firms capitulated faster than it takes to snap a briefcase shut. Paul, Weiss chair Brad Karp
Not everyone is shying away from the fight. Perkins Coie and Jenner & Block sued the Trump administration after getting hit with executive orders, just like WilmerHale did.
Advertisement
These vitriolic attacks, along with similar ones against universities, have been compared to McCarthyism, when the late Wisconsin senator engendered a climate of fear with his efforts to root out communists.
And, as WilmerHale mentions in its lawsuit, the firm knows a thing or two about McCarthyism.
American politician Joseph McCarthy testifies against the US Army during the Army-McCarthy hearings in Washington, D.C., on June 9, 1954.
Getty Images/Getty
Welch's star turn in the Army-McCarthy hearings of 1954 often gets credited with shifting popular sentiment against McCarthy. The US Army, in response to a McCarthy attack, had hired Welch on a pro bono basis. At one point in the hearings, Welch was needling Cohn over his assertion that the Army was hiding communists. That prompted McCarthy to make the mistake of singling out an associate at Hale and Dorr, noting that he once belonged to a progressive attorneys' group — essentially accusing the firm of harboring a communist within its ranks.
A clearly agitated Welch fought back, saying it was unfair to publicly tarnish his younger colleague's reputation. McCarthy, like a dog with a bone, continued undeterred. Welch interrupted again, prompting the oft-quoted riposte about McCarthy's sense of decency after asking him not to 'assassinate this lad' any further and saying, 'I like to think I'm a gentle man, but your forgiveness will have to come from someone other than me.'
McCarthy's popularity seemingly vanished after the hearing; Welch would go on to have a second career as a TV personality.
WilmerHale's lawsuit against Trump only touches on this history, focusing instead on how the executive order is unconstitutional. Among other things, WilmerHale says the US Constitution protects its employees' and clients' rights to speak freely, petition the courts and other government institutions, and choose attorneys without fear of retaliation. The right to counsel, the law firm argues, has served as a foundation for the US legal system dating back to when John Adams famously defended British soldiers after the Boston Massacre.
Advertisement
Hours after WilmerHale sued Trump, federal judge Richard Leon
limiting access to federal buildings, and another one that effectively would have banned it from working with federal contractors or doing business with the federal government. The revocation of security clearances would remain in place, for now anyway.
Much is at risk for the 2,000-person firm: More than four-fifths of its 25 largest clients have contracts with federal agencies — a group of clients that together account for more than $300 million in annual revenue — and the firm has more than 500 cases pending in various federal courts. That's according to a statement filed in court by general counsel Bruce Berman, who emphasized the firm's public-service tradition and how its attorneys represent the full political spectrum. (WilmerHale declined to comment beyond
And much could be at risk for the country's entire legal system. That's one reason the two most prominent bar associations in Massachusetts hailed their hometown heroes for fighting back.
Rich Page, head of the Boston Bar Association, pointed to Welch's role in ending the McCarthy-era witch hunts. He said his group is proud that a Boston law firm 'helped end that dark moment in our history, and we are just as proud — and not a bit surprised — that WilmerHale is standing up again now.'
Advertisement
Meanwhile, Mass. Bar Association president Victoria Santoro praised WilmerHale for standing up for the right to counsel, citing the work of another legendary Hale and Dorr lawyer,
'Not every client can be a politically expedient client,' Santoro said. 'But every client has a right to counsel, and law firms should not find themselves in political crosshairs because of the work they're empowered to do.'
It's a safe bet that the attorneys at WilmerHale are well aware of Welch's legacy, if not inspired by it.
Welch and McCarthy both died within a decade after they tanged with each other on national TV. One went down in history as a hero. The other, something else entirely.
Jon Chesto can be reached at