A team of Foley Hoag attorneys filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of the College of Commercial Arbitrators in the case Perkins Coie LLP v. U.S. Department of Justice, et al., urging the court to reject the Trump Administration's consolidated appeal to revive Executive Orders that would strip four law firms of their security clearances and impose other restrictions.
The brief argues that arbitral proceedings "risk becoming compromised in a world in which law firms and lawyers face the prospect of retaliation for representing clients that are unpopular with the government, since the arbitral process depends on lawyers who zealously advocate for their clients. Furthermore, the arbitral process requires that arbitrators — many of whom practice law at firms — remain free from coercion and without fear that a ruling could bring government retribution against them or their firms." The amicus brief further discusses historical precedent demonstrating that, while direct subversion of the judiciary and law firms is often the starting point of attacks on the legal system, assaults on arbitration often follow promptly.
In a statement in Law360, Partner and International Commercial Arbitration Practice Group Chair Daniel Schimmel, counsel of record for the College of Commercial Arbitrators, noted that "the continued strength and appeal of the United States as a place of arbitration depends on the independence of its legal system." The brief has also received coverage in Le Monde du Droit.
The Foley Hoag team that contributed to the brief includes Schimmel, Anthony Mirenda, Nicholas Renzler, Aaron Loving, Marilyn Icsman and Irene Whelan Vita.