Trump’s Legal Industry Attacks Slammed by Local Bars, Deans (1)

Bar associations and law school deans Wednesday criticized President Donald Trump’s moves to punish lawyers for client work and judges for rulings.

“We will not stay silent,” over 50 groups said in a statement led by the American Bar Association. They oppose remaking the legal profession into “something that rewards those who agree with the government and punishes those who do not.”

Nearly 80 law school deans released a letter “condemning any government efforts to punish lawyers or their firms based on the identity of their clients or for their zealous lawful and ethical advocacy.”

The statements come as Trump escalates his fight against law firms. He signed an executive order Tuesday hitting Jenner & Block’s security clearances and client contracts after previously acting against Covington & Burling, Perkins Coie, and Paul Weiss.

The ABA-organized effort was backed by groups including the New York City, Chicago, and Boston bar associations. The National Association of Women Lawyers, the Hispanic National Bar Association, and the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association also backed it.

The law schools’ letter was signed by deans from Georgetown University Law Center, USC Gould School of Law, Cornell Law School and Fordham Law School. “We thus speak as legal educators, responsible for training the next generation of lawyers,” they said.

The ABA and law school faculty had already been speaking up ahead of Wednesday’s statements. Several lawyers and legal advocates have been calling on law firms to take public positions against Trump’s moves, with mixed results so far.

“There are clear choices facing our profession,” the ABA-organized statement said. “We can choose to remain silent and allow these acts to continue or we can stand for the rule of law and the values we hold dear.”

Besides targeting law firms, Trump has also gone after the judiciary. On March 18 he called for the impeachment of a judge who ruled against his effort to swiftly deport alleged Venezuelan gang members. Chief Justice John Roberts countered that call with his own rare public statement.