• A federal judge ruled that Trump's executive order against Perkins Coie is unconstitutional.
• Judge Beryl Howell described the order as an unprecedented attack on the legal profession.
• The ruling protects the rights of lawyers and firms to operate free from government retaliation.
• The Trump administration may appeal this decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
• Perkins Coie expressed gratitude for support and affirmed its commitment to legal representation.

A federal judge has permanently blocked President Trump’s executive order targeting the law firm Perkins Coie, calling the action unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell described the order as part of an "unprecedented attack" on established legal principles in her 102-page ruling, stating, "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..." according to ABC News.

The executive order, which reflected Trump's grievances against Perkins Coie for representing his political rival Hillary Clinton, sought to impose severe restrictions on the firm. Howell found that Trump's directive violated First and Fifth Amendment rights, noting that using government powers to suppress dissenting views contradicts constitutional protections, as reported by CBS News and HuffPost.

The ruling is significant as it marks the first permanent block against one of Trump’s orders targeting law firms, a campaign which Howell criticized as an effort to coerce legal representation away from firms that the president disapproves of. "In a cringe-worthy twist on the theatrical phrase 'let’s kill all the lawyers,' EO 14230 takes the approach of 'let’s kill the lawyers I don’t like,'" Howell wrote in her decision, according to NY Times and LA Times.

Perkins Coie welcomed the judgment, highlighting its importance for all legal practitioners. The firm's spokesperson stated that the ruling affirms fundamental rights including free speech and due process, responding to Trump's claims that the firm engaged in “dishonest and dangerous activity,” a characterization tied to its past work with Clinton, according to Al Jazeera and Newsweek.

Looking ahead, the Trump administration has the option to appeal this ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals, while several other law firms—including WilmerHale and Jenner & Block—have also challenged similar executive orders but have temporarily succeeded in blocking those actions, according to Reuters and Business Insider.