'Slammed': What Has Driven Departures From Trump's Justice Department
"There's just a higher volume of politically oriented cases, or cases the political appointees are interested or involved in, which makes things more difficult," one former U.S. Justice Department appellate lawyer says.
September 18, 2019 at 06:47 PM
10 minute read
At least seven U.S. Justice Department lawyers have left the civil division's appellate staff in recent months, an unusual and sudden spike in departures that has diminished the team of lawyers defending U.S. government policies in federal appeals courts across the country.
Between March and July, the departures depleted a staff in a key litigating component that is unaccustomed to such high turnover in a short amount of time, according to veterans of the civil division's appellate team. One former Justice Department lawyer said the departures represent a "huge percentage" of the staff.
The string of departures offers a new view into a Justice Department strained by President Donald Trump's administration and a demanding caseload ever more dominated by politically charged matters that often have come with tighter deadlines than more routine appellate cases. Indeed, the Trump Justice Department, through its appellate team, has raced to the U.S. Supreme Court in numerous instances in an effort to speed up challenges to rulings that went against the White House.
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Trending Stories
- 1Ex-Prosecutor and Judge Fatally Shot During Attempted Arrest on Federal Corruption Charges
- 2'I'm Staying Everything': Texas Bankruptcy Judge Halts Talc Trials Against J&J
- 3The Law Firm Disrupted: For Big Law Names, Shorter is Sweeter
- 4NYC Mayor Eric Adams Indicted on Public Corruption Allegations
- 5What We Know About the Kentucky Judge Killed in His Chambers