UIA IROL Submits Amicus Curiae Brief to United States District Court in Support of Plaintiff Susman Godfry LLP

On behalf of UIA-IROL, UIA Presidents of Honor Jerry Roth and Jacqueline Scott filed an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on 28 April 2025. The amicus brief was submitted in support of the law firm Susman Godfrey LLP’s motion for summary judgment seeking to prevent the implementation of an Executive Order issued by President Trump against the firm.

The Executive Order, dated 9 April 2025, is one of a series of similar orders issued in recent months imposing harsh sanctions on well-respected American law firms based explicitly on their lawyers’ representation of clients and advocacy of positions the executive branch of the U.S. government and the President in particular disfavor [1] .

The filed brief, drafted in cooperation with Julie Goffin, Avi Singh, and Martin Pradel of UIA-IROL and filed with the support of the UIA Endowment Fund for the Rule of Law, submits  that the order violates the rights of lawyers to not be persecuted for the professional work they do as well as  the rights to due process, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly of both lawyers and their clients. The Order targeting lawyers, and the purely retaliatory motivation behind it, “violate[] not only national law, including the U. S. Constitution, but also internationally-recognised principles that protect the independence of the bar and the Rule of Law”.

The brief highlights the sources of international law that protect lawyers from harassment and retribution and, in particular, the 1990 United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, “the most authoritative statement of international norms regarding the protection of lawyers and of the independence of the bar.” It also references the recently-adopted Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer in which UIA played a critical role. The brief emphasizes the international recognition and protection of the rights of lawyers: to exercise their profession and practice law freely and independently; to not be identified with or equated to their clients; to appear in courts where they are properly qualified; and to access information necessary for them to meet their professional obligations; in addition to their rights to freedom of expression and association.

The brief concludes by warning against the “devastating consequences for the bar, the judiciary, and people throughout the United States and worldwide if the nations “were to now join the ranks of those countries opportunistically undercutting the independence of the bar and of the judiciary for anti-democratic, authoritarian ends”.

UIA-IROL will continue to monitor the case with close attention and remains committed to upholding the protection of lawyers, the independence of judges and the legal profession, and the Rule of Law.

See AMICUS BRIEF

See AMICUS BRIEF

[1] See UIA-IROL Statement dated 20 March 2025.