As a Georgetown Law graduate, I am very proud that my law school was one of the first to go on record against the Trump administration’s attacks on the legal profession. When other law schools did not stand up to object, Georgetown Law did. The letter that Dean William Treanor sent in response to the actions of the Trump administration left no room for negotiation. Right is right, wrong is wrong, and Georgetown wants to be on the side of right. But there were not many other law schools on the side of right in those early days, and there still are not enough. But momentum is growing.
In continuing support of the independence of the law profession, earlier this week Dean Treanor joined 78 other law school deans in signing on to a letter of protest co-written by Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of the University of California Berkeley Law. In commenting about the letter, Dean Chemerinsky had this to say:
“Authoritarian regimes come to power by silencing critics. I worry that if it gets worse it’ll even be harder to speak up. What we have is our voice and our authority as deans.”
Dean Chemerinsky expressed his gratitude that the deans of so many law schools had joined the effort, but he also noted his disappointment that more deans of the most prestigious law schools did not become signatories. Of the law schools regarded as the most prestigious, only the deans of Georgetown, Berkeley, UCLA and Cornell participated in signing the letter.
It is also worth noting that hundreds of law professors have joined the protest effort in filing an amicus brief against the recent administration attacks on BigLaw. In addition, state Attorney Generals from around the country have signed on to an open letter to the legal community reminding them of their responsibility to protect the Constitution and the rule of law.
Regrettably, bringing up the rear in terms of protesting the attacks on law firms are the law firms themselves. Above the Law has published a table of the top 200 law firms by annual revenues, color coding them to demonstrate which firms have pushed back on the Trump administration and which firms have done NOTHING to publicly dispute the actions of the administration. If you are imagining that there are fewer objectors than those sitting on the sidelines in silence, you would be correct.
As part of the Best Friends at the Bar program, I have spoken at many BigLaw firms, including some firms that have pushed back against the Trump administration and some that have not. Of all of them, I am dismayed most by the negotiations/cooperation of firms like DLA and Kirkland, firms that should not have any problem doing the right thing and knowing that choosing profits over values is not the right thing.
I am grateful to all those who support the rule of law and push back against the actions of the Trump administration in unconstitutional targeting of law firms and law schools. And I hope that the lists those supporting those efforts will continue to grow.
What is obvious and of great concern is that so many legal organizations, especially law schools and law firm, are holding back on their support because of fear that the Trump administration will find disfavor with them and come looking for them. What is faulty about that logic is that no one and nothing is safe in an environment of fear.
