Latest news with #VanNest&Peters
San Francisco Chronicle
22-04-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
S.F. law firm urges federal judge to hold Trump in contempt over deportations
A San Francisco law firm says a federal judge should hold Trump administration officials — and perhaps President Donald Trump himself — in contempt of court and impose sanctions for defying court orders to return Venezuelan migrants it has sent to a prison in El Salvador. 'The possibility that the government could disobey the court's orders and attempt to avoid any resulting accountability is as frightening as it is unprecedented,' attorney Steven Hirsch wrote Friday in an amicus filing with U.S. District Judge James Boasberg's court in Washington, D.C. And although the Supreme Court has ruled that Trump cannot be prosecuted criminally for his 'official' actions as president, he and others in his administration could be held in civil contempt, Hirsch wrote. Potential penalties, he said, include disqualification of Justice Department lawyers and, 'in the most extreme cases,' a final verdict for the opposing side. Hirsch is a lawyer with Keker, Van Nest & Peters, which has spoken out in defense of major law firms targeted by the Trump administration for representing clients or causes he opposes. Nine firms have agreed to settlements with Trump that require them to provide free legal work for cause the president supports. Other law firms have won court orders blocking any penalties against them, at least for now. After the Trump administration ordered more than 200 Venezuelans sent to El Salvador last month, claiming they belonged to a gang that was conducting an 'invasion' of the United States, Boasberg ordered them returned to the U.S., saying there was no evidence to justify their removal. Administration officials refused, saying the judge had no authority over the flights after they left the U.S. Boasberg then said he would begin contempt-of-court proceedings, but a federal appeals court panel put those proceedings on hold in a 2-1 decision Friday night. Both judges in the majority were appointed by Trump, while the dissenter, and Boasberg, were appointed by President Barack Obama. In the San Francisco firm's filing, Hirsch cited the Supreme Court's unanimous ruling in 1997 that President Bill Clinton was not immune from civil litigation — a suit by Paula Jones, who accused Clinton of making sexual advances to her while he was governor of Arkansas. Clinton eventually won the case but was fined and lost his law license for giving false testimony. Quoting the trial court judge in the Clinton case, Hirsch wrote there was 'no constitutional barrier to holding the President in civil contempt of court.' Although Trump contended it would be impossible to comply with Boasberg's order to return the Venezuelans, Hirsch wrote, 'the court can push back — vigorously — by demanding concrete evidence on such questions as: What actions has the Administration taken to comply with the court's order? What prevented those actions from being effective?' He wrote in the filing that the judge's order should have been enforced by the U.S. Marshal's Service, whose officers 'swear to support and defend the Constitution — not the President or the Attorney General.' But if the marshals refuse, Hirsch said, other officers are available, including the Washington, D.C., Police Department. Lawyers he represents, Hirsch said in the legal filing, are speaking up 'in support of courts that serve as a bulwark against the President's attempts to rule by fiat.'
Boston Globe
23-03-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
With new decree, Trump seeks to cow the legal profession
Vanita Gupta, who as a civil rights lawyer and a former Justice Department official has both sued the government and defended it in court, said Trump's memo 'attacks the very foundations of our legal system by threatening and intimidating litigants who aim to hold our government accountable to the law and the Constitution.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The president has long complained that Democratic-leaning lawyers and law firms have pursued what he calls 'lawfare' in the form of investigations and lawsuits against him and his allies that he claims are motivated by politics. Since being sworn into office, he has targeted three firms, but the new memo seems to threaten similar punishment for any firm that raises his ire or any lawyer who does. Advertisement Trump's memo argues that the steps are necessary to ensure 'accountability' in the legal profession. After Trump issued an order suspending security clearances for Paul Weiss lawyers and sharply limiting their employees from entering government buildings or getting government jobs, the firm agreed to a series of commitments to get the president to cancel the order. As part of the deal, the firm said it would provide $40 million in legal services to causes Trump has championed, including his task force to combat antisemitism. Perkins Coie, another firm targeted by Trump, chose a different tack — suing him in federal court and getting a temporary restraining order against the president. Trump's attacks on law firms, and Paul Weiss's decision to sue for peace rather than fight it out in court, have sent shock waves through the legal community. The sweeping nature of Trump's latest demand comes as he has also stepped up his public attacks on judges and the notion that the courts can tell him what to do or not do. Advertisement The executive branch 'should neither fear nor punish those who challenge it and should not be the arbiter of what is frivolous. There are protections in place to address that,' Gupta said. 'This moment calls for courage and collective action, not capitulation, among lawyers and the legal profession.' It also comes amid a showdown between a federal judge in Washington and the administration over Trump's invocation a week ago of the Alien Enemies Act, which he used to immediately send more than 100 Venezuelan migrants he said were gang members to a large prison complex in El Salvador. Civil rights activists say the deportations violated the law and that the administration's refusal to give clear answers on its conduct flouts the very premise of the US court system. One law firm that is suing the administration over its policies said it would not back down in the face of threats from the White House. The leaders of Keker, Van Nest & Peters, a San Francisco firm that has sued the Trump administration over its immigration raids, called Trump's latest memo 'inexcusable and despicable.' 'Our liberties depend on lawyers' willingness to represent unpopular people and causes, including in matters adverse to the federal government,' the firm said in a statement. 'Our profession owes every client zealous legal representation without fear of retribution, regardless of their political affiliation or ability to pay.' Advertisement The firm also encouraged other lawyers to join a nationwide effort to submit a 'friend of the court' brief in the Perkins Coie lawsuit against Trump. Trump's Friday night memo, titled 'Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court,' complains that lawyers have long engaged in unethical conduct in opposing him or deportations. The memo also suggests that the Trump administration will make disciplinary referrals against lawyers who pursue cases without merit, 'particularly in cases that implicate national security, homeland security, public safety or election integrity.' Trump also used the announcement to attack one particular lawyer by name, Marc Elias. Elias previously worked at Perkins Coie and has long represented Democrats. Trump blames Elias, among others, for a dossier of unsubstantiated allegations about his links to Russia that was investigated by the FBI in 2016 and 2017. '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 said in a written statement. 'There will be no negotiation with this White House about the clients we represent or the lawsuits we bring on their behalf.' This article originally appeared in
