motions from home. Most of the group hadn’t eaten dinner, so they shared what they had: cough drops and thin-mint cookies, staples found in the pocketbooks of mothers everywhere. It was a memorable team effort. Magistrate Judge Judith Dein and US District Court Judge Allison Burroughs of the US District Court were soon on site to hear the case in an emergency session. The Depart- ment of Justice hadn’t been briefed on the executive order before its release, so the government’s litigator—who happened to be a former Mintz Levin attorney—hadn’t been given any directive from Washington on how the government should respond. “It was quite unusual,” Cohen said. A little before 2 am, the judges ruled in the team’s favor. The decision put a seven-day hold on enforcement of the Trump administration’s order. In addition, the govern- ment was instructed to notify airlines with flights into Logan Airport that passengers would not be detained or returned solely due to the ban, and should therefore be allowed to board their planes. Airlines face steep fines for allowing people without appropriate documents to board international flights, so they have a strong disincentive to board passengers whose documents may be in doubt. With the original plaintiffs released from detention that night, the team needed to file an amended complaint shortly thereafter. With the support of the firm’s manage- ment, Mintz Levin became co-counsel on that filing. “It’s a privilege to work at Mintz Levin, where management immediately grasped the significance of this immigration crisis,” Cohen said, “and where we were able to pull an incredible, top-notch team together to work seamlessly with our partners within the Boston community, and with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and our clients, to undertake this historic litigation.” Over the next several days, Finegan, Cohen, and many other firm attorneys—including seasoned litigators Betsy Burnett, Peter Biagetti, Michael Gardner, Narges Kakalia, and Andy Nathanson—co-counseled with the ACLU, Church, and others to represent the new plaintiffs, including Oxfam America and other individuals, alongside the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. In addition to filing a motion to extend the temporary restraining order, they spent time ensuring that the seven-day order approved by the judges was implemented. “Although it required the Department of Homeland Security to inform airlines that they had to let the passengers on the planes, the Department resisted, and airlines didn’t get the message from Customs and Border Protection. We had to work our channels to convince airlines to follow the court order, and that took us three days,” Cohen said. Immigra- tion attorney Doug Hauer played a key role in that effort. Meanwhile, the firm’s phones were ringing off the hook. Attorneys responded to clients concerned for their employees, spoke with local attorneys and others wanting to help, and fielded questions from the press. Internally, dozens of attorneys and staff from all Mintz Levin offices volunteered to assist, and were put to work. Burnett, who joined the case on Sunday after attending an immigration rally in Boston, spent many late nights working with the ACLU of Massachusetts, Church, other attorneys, and the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. “It was really exhilarating, and an honor, to work with them so closely,” she said. “All were highly profes- sional and passionately committed to justice.” Quick Teamwork on the Travel Ban (continued) 12