Notable examples of the group's work include Canoe Cruisers Association v. United States Coast Guard,[3] VoteVets v. Department of Veterans Affairs,[4] and City of Columbus v. Trump.[5] On June 2, 2023, Democracy Forward launched a lawsuit on behalf of a coalition of Arkansas librarians, booksellers, and customers, which challenged parts of the Arkansas Act 372 that aimed to introduce criminal penalties for librarians and booksellers who provided materials deemed "harmful to minors".[6] On December 23, 2024, a federal judge declared those sections unconstitutional.[7][8] On January 27, 2025, the group provided lawyers for a group of Quaker congregations who opposed Donald Trump's rescinding of guidance prohibiting immigration raids in sensitive areas (including places of worship, schools and hospitals) without approval.[9] The group filed lawsuits opposing a number of executive orders signed early in the second Trump administration, including those mostly shuttering USAID,[10] offering a brief window for "deferred resignation" by federal employees,[11][12] and freezing up to $3 trillion in federal spending.[13][14] It also filed suit to restrict actions by Elon Musk's DOGE operation.[15]
After Trump won a second term, he targeted big law firms that provided pro bono representation for appellate level and Supreme Court cases. Firms made deals with Trump to avoid punishment. In August 2025, Democracy Forward launched its own appellate practice of approximately a dozen lawyers.[16]
