U.S. law firm Perkins Coie has hired outside lawyers from Williams & Connolly in response to President Donald Trump's executive order last week punishing the firm over its prior work for Hillary Clinton and its internal policies promoting diversity and inclusion.

A federal judge blocked President Donald Trump's administration Wednesday from enforcing portions of an executive order designed to punish a prominent law firm linked to Democratic-funded opposition research during the 2016 presidential campaign into ties between the Republican candidate and Russia.

The president’s use of government power to punish firms is seen by some legal experts as undercutting a basic tenet: the right to a strong legal defense.