The Trump Administration has issued a new memorandum directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek sanctions against attorneys and law firms involved in what the administration describes as “frivolous, unreasonable, and vexatious” lawsuits against the federal government. This directive marks another step in the administration’s effort to closely examine legal practitioners challenging White House policies or representing clients in immigration proceedings deemed ‘meritless’ by the president.
The memorandum explicitly cites the Rules of Professional Conduct 3.1 and the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11, which prohibit lawyers from making claims without proper motivation, lacking evidentiary support, or not based in existing law. A significant portion of the memo targets the US immigration system, alleging it is fraught with fraudulent and meritless claims, which Trump argues places a burden on the federal government to dismantle these spurious claims.
Attorney General Bondi is tasked with pursuing disciplinary actions against attorneys found to be engaging in misconduct and to treat these violations as potentially reflecting on law firms themselves. This scrutiny particularly targets cases with national security, homeland security, public safety, or election integrity implications.
In a move to address potential misconduct retroactively, the administration has mandated a review of lawyers and law firms’ conduct over the last eight years in federal litigation. This review could lead to additional steps such as reevaluating attorneys’ security clearances or terminating federal contracts with firms implicated in allegedly fraudulent litigation.
This recent move follows several actions by the administration against well-known law firms. Earlier this month, the White House suspended security clearances at Perkins Coie LLP and revoked security clearances at Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, citing their diversity-focused policies and past political representations. These recent actions have been met with significant backlash from the legal community, with lawsuits being filed in response, highlighting the contentious relationship between the administration and some sectors of the legal fraternity.