The Department of Justice is dropping its appeals of cases that struck down President Donald Trump’s executive orders punishing law firms, per multiple reports, officially marking a defeat of the president’s vindictive campaign to cow law firms into obedience.

Trump’s executive orders, intended to undermine the ability of major law firms to challenge his administration, were some of the earliest actions he took upon retaking office in 2025. The orders targeting the firms claimed they employed lawyers who worked on prosecutions and investigations that targeted Trump and operated “illegal” diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, and aimed to curtail the ability of the firms to operate and attract clients. They were all harshly rebuffed by district court judges. Now, the administration will drop its appeals, according to reports by The Wall Street Journal, CNN and the Financial Times.

The firms and the DOJ did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.

This marks the full defeat of one of Trump’s earliest autocratic moves to consolidate power over civil society.

The orders were designed to coerce law firms into making deals with the administration that neutered their capacity to provide legal support for those challenging Trump’s policies. This worked at first for some firms, who struck deals to avoid an order punishing them. But then the four targeted firms — Susman Godrey; Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr; Perkins Coie; and Jenner & Block — sued and won, while those that capitulated faced staff exodus and reputational damage.

The orders, and threat of orders, were also meant to cow the legal profession writ large by showing what could happen if firms did not comply with the new administration. Top law firms pulled back from representing pro bono clients, such as immigrants targeted by the Trump administration’s mass deportation policies in the immediate wake of the orders. This was all part of an autocratic plan to force elements of civil society ― law firms, nonprofits and universities ―to bend the knee through legal threats, sanctions and the removal of funding.

The district court decisions striking down the orders declared that Trump’s orders were an attack on the rule of law that flew in the face of the country’s history and tradition.

“Here, the Order goes beyond violating the Constitution and the laws of the United States,” Judge Lori AliKhan of the D.C. Circuit Court wrote in her decision striking down the order targeting Susman Godfrey. “The Order threatens the independence of the bar – a necessity for the rule of law.”

In striking down the order targeting WilmerHale, Judge Richard Leon of the D.C. Circuit Court declared that “to rule otherwise would be unfaithful to the judgment and vision of the Founding Fathers!”

“The Order shouts through a bullhorn: If you take on causes disfavored by President Trump, you will be punished!” Leon added.

“No American President has ever before issued executive orders like the one at issue in this lawsuit targeting a prominent law firm with adverse actions to be executed by all Executive branch agencies but, in purpose and effect, this action draws from a playbook as old as Shakespeare, who penned the phrase: ‘The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers,’” Judge Beryl Howell of the D.C. Circuit Court wrote in her decision striking down the order targeting Perkins Coie.

With the Justice Department’s decision to drop its appeal, these decisions now stand as the final say on Trump’s efforts to destroy and cow the legal profession. That defeat, however, comes after more than a year of success in scaring Big Law away from challenging the administration as it did during his first term.

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