US lawyers set up own firms to lead legal fightback in face of Trump onslaught
Sam Levine in New York
Sun 18 May 2025 07.00 EDT
Last modified on Sun 18 May 2025 11.58 EDT
As Donald Trump wages a blunt attack on major law firms and the justice department, some lawyers are starting their own law firms and challenging the administration’s effort to cut funding and punish civil servants. The decision to start the firms come as the judiciary has emerged as a major bulwark against the Trump administration. More than 200 lawsuits have been filed challenging various Trump administration policies. And there have been more than 70 rulings blocking the administration from executing various policies.
Daniel Jacobson thought the knowledge of niche rules governing administrative and funding laws he had accumulated as general counsel in the office of management and budget during Joe Biden’s administration would be “totally useless” in normal times. But when the Trump administration quickly began mass cuts in funding for agencies, programs and groups he saw a “gap in the market”. Many of the groups affected by the cuts were organizations that could not afford to pay major law firms steep legal fees.
Jacobson, a former associate at Arnold & Porter, thought his specialized knowledge combined with his litigation experience could help. He started his own firm in February. Jacobson’s decision came as many firms have been wary of taking on pro-bono work challenging the administration’s interests. As Trump has directed punishing executive orders at firms that challenged him, several of the country’s largest and most prestigious law firms have reached agreements in which they have agreed to provide pro-bono legal services that align with both the firm and the Trump administration’s interests.
Jacobson’s firm already has five cases, including ones to block efforts to dismantle the National Endowment for the Humanities and an office of management and budget page tracking appropriations. The firm is now staffed with six attorneys who previously served as lawyers in various government agencies, including the Department of Education, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the federal programs bench of the justice department, which defends the executive branch and agencies in civil litigation.
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(ETA - among the "gutted" from the federal government - many have been lawyers as every agency has some sort of legal group, although most agencies eventually use DOJ as their "law firm" to deal with criminal and civil court filings, seizures, injunction, TROs, etc)
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