Criminal Justice
Trump executive order calls for pro bono help for law enforcement officers; will BigLaw firms be tapped?
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday intended to empower law enforcement and provide legal resources to officers who “unjustly incur expenses and liabilities” for performing their official duties. (Photo from Shutterstock)
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday intended to empower law enforcement and provide legal resources to officers who “unjustly incur expenses and liabilities” for performing their official duties.
The April 28 order directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to “create a mechanism” to provide legal resources and indemnification to the officers, including “the use of private-sector pro bono assistance.”
Nine BigLaw firms have reached deals with Trump in which they agreed to provide millions of dollars in pro bono assistance to issues supported by the firms and Trump. Their agreements allowed them to avoid executive orders that, among other things, call for the suspension of lawyers’ security clearances and imperil their clients’ government contracts.
Amounts of pro bono pledged range from $40 million to $125 million.
Law360, Reuters and the Marshall Project have coverage.
Experts who spoke with Law360 and the Marshall Project pointed out that officers charged with job-related wrongdoing already receive free legal services from unions and from state and local governments. They also are indemnified by governments and their insurers.
Other provisions of the order call for the attorney general and other agencies to “maximize the use of federal resources” to improve law enforcement training, increase pay and benefits for officers, strengthen and expand legal protections for officers, seek enhanced sentences for crimes against officers, and increase investment in crime data collection.
The order also directs the attorney general and the secretary of the Department of Defense to “increase the provision of excess military and national security assets in local jurisdictions to assist state and local law enforcement.”
Another provision directs the attorney general to review federal consent decrees and out-of-court agreements.
“Such measures that unduly impede the performance of law enforcement functions” should be modified or rescinded, the order said.
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