Major law firms targeted by President Donald Trump urged a federal appeals court to uphold lower court rulings blocking executive orders issued against them, arguing the measures threaten the independence of the legal profession and the rule of law.

In briefs filed on Friday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, attorneys for WilmerHale contended that Trump’s executive order was issued in retaliation for the firm’s representation of clients and causes disfavored by the president, as well as for viewpoints with which he disagrees. The firm described the order as “draconian” and “brazen.”

The executive order poses “a severe threat to the legal profession and the rule of law,” WilmerHale’s lawyers wrote.

Attorneys for Jenner & Block, another firm involved in the case, echoed that concern, arguing that “the legal profession’s independence from government coercion is fundamental to the rule of law.” 

“If the government may punish firms for the clients they represent, the positions they advocate, and the attorneys they employ—and if courts are powerless to provide a remedy – then the legal system as a whole stands to lose,” the lawyers argued.

WilmerHale, Jenner & Block, Susman Godfrey, and Perkins Coie are asking the court to affirm lower court decisions invalidating the executive orders directed at them.

In their filings, the firms pointed to the Department of Justice’s short-lived decision to withdraw from its appeal in the matter, as well as a separate resolution reached between the White House and the Wall Street firm Paul Weiss.

The Department of Justice has until April 10 to file its reply. Oral arguments in the case are scheduled for May 14 at the D.C. courthouse.

This dispute stems from executive actions taken by the Trump administration against law firms perceived as opposing its agenda, raising broader questions about executive power, retaliation, and protections for legal advocacy.

The administration has also moved to terminate federal government contracts with such firms, limit them from entering federal buildings and in some cases barring interaction by federal employees with them.