Don’t ‘Kill the Lawyers’ in 2026—They’re Fighting for Justice

Last year was marked by President Donald Trump’s unprecedented attacks on many of the institutions Americans rely on to protect our life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Before Trump went after independent agencies that regulate and check the power of business and government; before he went after universities that teach and train our children and are the incubators for global strides in science, technology, and health; and before he went after corporations to erode the independence of the media they owned, he went for the lawyers.

It was no accident. It’s been an important salvo in the playbook of authoritarian regimes. People often misunderstand Shakespeare’s famous line, “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” Spoken by the mob leaders seeking to overthrow the government, it underscores the importance of lawyers to protect the rights we all should cherish.

Our Founding Fathers, many of them lawyers, understood the power of government to abuse its citizens. They especially feared an executive who tried to reestablish the authority of a monarch against whom America had fought years to gain its independence.

They believed the checks and balances of three co-equal branches of government would do the heavy work in this regard. But they also understood more was needed—including lawyers doing their jobs without fear of retribution.

The Founding Fathers applied their legal training not to mergers and acquisitions but to creating a system of government that has protected democracy for 250 years. 

People forget that John Adams represented the British troops accused of murder in the Boston Massacre, achieved acquittals for his clients, and went on to be elected president. In Trump’s America, this fundamental idea that everyone deserves legal representation, no matter their crime or political point of view, is under serious threat.

In a calculated move, Trump began his second term by going after some of the biggest law firms, using weak justifications to hide his true goal: getting revenge against those who had sued or investigated him.

Too many of these firms capitulated, bent their collective knees, and agreed to a variety of shameful terms to appease the president who threatened them.

A handful of others and some individual attorneys singled out by Trump stood up, fought back, and have prevailed in every court challenge.

Then, there were the vast number of other law firms that ducked for cover, retreated from their pro bono work that displeased the new administration, and hoped by keeping their heads down, they would not be penalized. 

But this onslaught did more than reveal the brave from the cowardly. It generated a fresh influx into a pro-democracy ecosystem of attorneys who took on the battle to protect the rule of law.

I was one of them, leaving behind a 25-year career in Big Law to start a small firm. By my count, this new, fortified band of advocates have brought more than 300 challenges to the barrage of attacks on the programs that provide food and support to people, protections for immigrants, jobs, and infrastructure to communities across America, and health care to millions of Americans. 

The Trump administration’s early strategy might have been to “flood the zone” with executive actions to overwhelm those who might resist. What it inspired was a vigorous response that led to a string of successful legal challenges such as stopping the dismantling of AmeriCorps or cutting funds to Harvard University. 

And as we step beyond the year that began with attacks on the legal community, we see lawyers assuming the place the Founding Fathers envisioned. These lawyers may be inspiring the next generation: Law schools are seeing a 33% increase in applications.

As they join the profession, I hope these new advocates will work less for private equity and more for public interest. I hope they are driven by the lawyers who stopped the deployment of military troops in cities and blocked attempts to circumvent Congress’s role in appointing the nation’s top prosecutors. I hope they are motivated by the attorneys who freed a man improperly arrested and sent to an El Salvadorian prison, and who secured the dismissal of criminal cases against two officials on Trump’s revenge list.

Meanwhile, lawyers are on the way to preventing Trump from usurping Congress’ role to impose tariffs and from reversing decades of birthright citizenship. And on Dec. 23, a court restored the security clearance of a whistleblower attorney long a thorn in Trump’s side who was stripped of that ability as retribution, allowing him to resume his practice in representing those who question the government.

These legal victories still face appellate courts, but none would have gotten this far without attorneys fulfilling their proper roles.

So, first thing, let’s not kill the lawyers. Let’s remember how important they are to our democracy.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law, Bloomberg Tax, and Bloomberg Government, or its owners.

Author Information

Abbe David Lowell left a 25- year career in BigLaw in April to start a firm which has challenged the actions taken and defended those attacked by the Trump administration.

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