联邦法官驳回政府动议：Susman Godfrey律所可继续代理美国律师协会诉政府案
华盛顿——据路透社 10 月 16 日报道，华盛顿联邦地区法官Amir Ali周五裁定，驳回特朗普政府要求取消 Susman Godfrey 律所在美国律师协会（ABA）诉政府案中代理资格的请求，该所可继续代理 ABA。案件为「美国律师协会诉总统行政办公室」（American Bar Association v. Executive Office ofthe President），案号 1:25-cv-01888-AHA，由哥伦比亚特区联邦地区法院审理。
ABA 去年提起该诉讼，指控特朗普政府基于律所的法律工作、招聘、多元化政策与政治关系而针对律所与律师，属违法政策。Susman Godfrey 本身也是特朗普一系列针对律所的行政令的对象之一；该所是去年赢得法院命令、永久禁止对其实行相关行政令的三家律所之一，政府的上诉仍在审理中。政府今年 7 月请求Ali 法官将 Susman Godfrey 逐出 ABA 案，理由是该所涉入诉讼所涉事项、其律师可能须出庭作证，构成利益冲突；政府并称，把该所换掉不会损害 ABA，因为该组织「大概可以聘请全国任何一家律所、或至少大多数律所」为代理。
Ali 法官在裁定中写道，政府未能证明 Susman Godfrey 的律师会同时以证人身份出庭并代理 ABA；他并指出，即便确有这样的证人，律师职业规则也不会自动取消整家律所的代理资格。Ali 写道：「ABA 要求调取与 Susman Godfrey 相关的通讯记录，并不表明本案中代理 ABA 的律师——他们甚至可能根本没有参与那些通讯——有可能成为必要证人。」ABA 与 Susman Godfrey 反对政府的动议，称其为「持续恐吓并寒蝉美国法律界言论的努力的新篇章」。路透社称，白宫未立即置评，ABA 未立即回应置评请求。Ali 法官由民主党总统拜登任命。
Judge Rejects Trump Administration Bid to Disqualify Susman Godfrey From American Bar Association Lawsuit
WASHINGTON — A U.S. judge on Friday allowed the law firm Susman Godfrey to continue representing the American Bar Association in its lawsuit against President Donald Trump's administration, rejecting government arguments that the firm's involvement in matters at issue in the litigation created a conflict requiring its disqualification, Reuters reported on October 16. The case, American Bar Association v. Executive Office of the President, No. 1:25-cv-01888-AHA, is before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The ABA filed the lawsuit last year, alleging the Trump administration adopted an unlawful policy of targeting law firms and lawyers based on their legal work, hiring, diversity policies and political ties. Susman Godfrey was among the firms targeted in a series of executive orders aimed at law firms; it is one of three firms that won court orders last year permanently barring enforcement of the orders against them, and the administration's appeal is pending. The administration in July asked U.S. District Judge Amir Ali to disqualify Susman Godfrey from representing the ABA, arguing the firm's lawyers could be witnesses in the case, and saying that removing the firm would not harm the ABA because the organization "may have as its choice of counsel presumably any law firm in the country, or at least most law firms."
In his ruling, Ali wrote that the administration had not shown that lawyers at Susman Godfrey would simultaneously appear as witnesses in the lawsuit while also representing the ABA, and that even if there were such a witness, professional attorney rules would not automatically disqualify the rest of the law firm. "That the ABA seeks discovery about communications related to Susman Godfrey does not indicate the lawyers representing the ABA here, who may not have even been involved in the communications, are likely to be necessary witnesses," Ali wrote. The ABA and Susman Godfrey assailed the administration's bid as "a new chapter in the ongoing effort to intimidate and chill the speech of the American legal profession." The White House had no immediate comment, and the ABA did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters said. Ali is an appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden.
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图片来源：图：E. Barrett Prettyman 联邦法院大楼（华盛顿，哥伦比亚特区联邦地区法院所在地）资料照片。照片：AgnosticPreachersKid，公共领域，Wikimedia Commons。File photo: the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, home of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Photo by AgnosticPreachersKid, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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