Merrick Garland, former U.S. Attorney General and longtime jurist, is making a quiet but pointed reentry into the legal world. After stepping away from public office, Garland is heading back to where it all began—Arnold & Porter, the Washington-based law firm that helped shape his early legal career.
The firm announced Garland’s arrival as a partner in its elite appellate and Supreme Court practice. For Garland, the move marks a return not only to familiar hallways but also to a role that now intersects with an increasingly fraught legal and political landscape.
“This is where I first learned how to be a lawyer,” Garland said in a statement. A nostalgic sentiment, perhaps, but one layered with context. Arnold & Porter isn’t just any firm—it has stood on the opposite side of Donald Trump’s legal crusades more than once, signing court briefs in support of firms that challenged the former president’s executive orders.
Garland’s return comes as the U.S. Department of Justice undergoes a dramatic transformation. Since Trump’s return to the presidency in January, the DOJ has seen an exodus of seasoned officials and a sharp pivot in priorities—from civil rights and antitrust enforcement to immigration crackdowns and investigations aimed at critics of the administration.
Trump, never one to hide his disdain, has publicly castigated major law firms he believes have weaponized the courts against him. Arnold & Porter, undeterred, joined advocacy groups in litigation over Trump’s attempt to dismantle birthright citizenship.
Against that backdrop, Garland’s move is more than a career pivot—it’s a signal. A seasoned legal mind returning to the courtroom at a time when the rule of law is being reshaped in real time.
No press tour. No tell-all. Just a quiet return—and the possibility of louder consequences.
