We filed this lawsuit in August 2010 challenging Treasury Department regulations that required lawyers to obtain government permits before providing legal representation (including pro bono representation) “to or for the benefit of” individuals the government designated as terrorists. Those regulations were preventing us from providing legal representation to the father of Anwar Al-Aulaqi for the benefit of his son, a U.S. citizen whom the government was attempting to kill without legal process. We had applied for a license to provide this representation, but the Treasury Department had not responded.
One day after we filed suit, the Treasury Department issued the license we sought. Soon afterward it amended the regulations to permit uncompensated attorneys to represent designated individuals without first seeking a license. We voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit.
