Hundreds of law firms and retired judges on Friday signed briefs in support of the Perkins Coie law firm as it sues the Trump administration over President Donald Trump's executive order that targeted the firm.

The law firm filed the lawsuit last month after the Trump administration revoked the security clearances of some of its staff, and accused the administration of targeting the firm for its representation of Democratic clients.

More than 500 law firms and 300 retired judges have signed two friend-of-the-court amicus briefs condemning Trump’s order that also essentially barred the firm's employees from accessing federal buildings.

“Although we do not take this step lightly, our abiding commitment to preserving the integrity of the American legal system leaves us no choice but to join together to oppose the (executive order) that is at issue in this litigation,” Donald Verrilli, a former solicitor general under former President Obama, wrote in the first brief, The Hill reported.

The brief asked  U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell to rule in favor of Perkins Coie and block the president's order.

The first brief did not include many big names, but Covington & Burling, WilmerHale and Jenner & Block, who have also been targeted by Trump in executive orders, did sign the brief.

The second brief was signed by former judges and argued that passionate legal representation, which it claimed Perkins Coie provided, is an “indispensable element of the rule of law.”

“Amici share an interest in ensuring both the substance and the appearance of justice in the adjudication of disputes,” their brief reads. “This requires — always — preserving the freedom of lawyers to advocate for their clients with candor and with zeal, thus providing judges with the complete legal and factual record needed for fair adjudication.” 

The briefs come as other law firms who were previously targeted by the president reach deals with Trump, which has prompted backlash from the left. 

Democratic strategist James Carville slammed the law firms who struck deals with the president, comparing them to Nazi collaborators. 

“Maybe you need to go in history and see what happened in August of 1944, after Paris was liberated. They didn’t take very kindly to the collaborators,” he said on his Politicon podcast. “These people are a disgrace to the law firms they represent, to the companies that they represent and are supposed to be in self-interest, and they’re a disgrace to the United States, and etch their names in the tablet of history for being some of the greatest traitors, appeasers that we’ve seen in the history of our great country."

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.