Thought For The Week: “Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present.” Albert Camus

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Are Law Schools and Law Firms Beginning to Wake Up?

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.

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Thought For The Week: “Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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Best Friends at the Bar Has Taken on a New Meaning

When I first envisioned the project that came to be Best Friends at the Bar, it was to support young women in the practice of law. In 2007, they needed all the help they could get, and Best Friends at the Bar was there with a helping hand. As women lawyers grew in numbers and in influence and presence at the top ranks in the profession, I broadened my focus to all young lawyers, men and women alike. My goal was to keep them from tripping over themselves on their way to success. I continue in that work, but my focus has broadened to all lawyers in response to current events.

It is now clear that all lawyers need to organize and fight what is becoming a very real and powerful threat to the profession. It is time for lawyers across the bar to organize as “best friends” who have each other’s backs. Lawyers in America — in big firms, smaller firms, boutiques and solo practices — need to support each other now more than ever. They need to object when BigLaw firms are being targeted by the Trump Administration. And they need to create a support system to keep firms from capitulating to the bully in the room — the bully with the objective and the power to destroy those who understand his unconstitutional overreach and are in positions to stop him.

Former Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, who served in the George W. Bush administration, is quoted on Above The Law from an NPR podcast as follows: “If lawyers aren’t stepping up and speaking out against these kinds of attacks, that’s disappointing and dangerous. I must confess some level of disappointment in the silence that I’m hearing amongst a lot of firms … not to mention the outright capitulation that too many firms are engaging in.”

Gonzales also has a pretty good idea why this is happening. “[Trump’s] trying to … limit the number of great lawyers or good lawyers that can take positions [and] represent clients in opposition to what [the president] wants to accomplish or wants to do. And in a republic like ours, I think that’s very, very dangerous … [but] the rule of law exists to check abuses of power.”

This is a former Attorney General in a republican administration. Although Alberto Gonzales is not declaring himself as a recruit to the opposing political camp, he knows wrong when he sees it. He is disappointed and outraged at the lack of response from the legal community and hoping for more. Without saying it, he is looking for the lawyers of America to be Best Friends at the Bar.

And so am I. As I see more and more firms treat the Executive Branch’s attacks on them as negotiations, I wonder how those lawyers are going to look at themselves in the mirrors in years to come. I see too many in the American legal bar turn blind eyes to behaviors of the Executive Branch that have the potential to alter the very foundation of the profession. I regret the loss of so many lawyers and firms I have admired, as well as the loss of positive role models for the young lawyers in those practices. And at the same time, I am proud of and inspired by the lawyers in firms that are pushing back against an administration that is overreaching and threatening and protecting the independence of the practice of law.

This fight has to be organized and cannot depend on individual efforts. There is strength in numbers, and bar associations have an obvious role in protecting the legal bar. They are natural gathering places for lawyers, and they can be very influential. Start there. Grow support there. Be a change agent there.

It is time that our profession demonstrates that profits do not “trump” values. That money is a means to doing good. That ethics have not left the practice of law.

Be a Best Friend at the Bar. It is a noble calling.

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Equal Pay Day Has FINALLY Arrived

Equal Pay Day fell on Tuesday of this week, March 25, 2025. We observe Equal Pay Day each year as the date upon which women make the same amount of money as men made in the prior calendar year. So, for men and women doing the same job, if men made an average of $100 in calendar year 2024, then it took women on an average until March 25, 2025 to make the same amount of money.

The observance of Equal Pay Day is something to raise your awareness but not to celebrate. After all, giving up what amounts to about three months of equitable pay sucks, right? Celebration will come when Equal Pay Day is observed on January 1 of each year.

Put in perpective, Above the Law reports that, “According to 2024 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women earned just 84 cents for every dollar earned by men when looking at median hourly wages for full- and part-time workers. That’s only a modest improvement from 82 cents in 2023.”

But, you may think that this pay disparity does not apply to women lawyers. However, an article on Bloomberg reprinted this week on Above the Law identifies the legal industry in the US as one of five industries where unequal pay is very much alive. Additionally, the latest US census data demonstrates that women in male-dominated fields like law can lose as much as $1M over a career because of pay disparity, with those statistics being worse for women lawyers who also are mothers.

Most sources recognize that some of the pay disparity is the result of differences in education, job experience or occupational choices. However, in the case of women lawyers, it cannot be denied that other contributing factors are gender discrimination, limited leadership opportunities, and what has been identified as the “motherhood penalty” in the law as lawyer/mothers juggle caretaking responsibilities with professional responsibilities.

So, what does that mean to you? Simply stated, it means that you must advocate for yourself to achieve the pay equity you deserve. You never should be too busy billing hours to pay attention to your compensation. The fortunate among you may have other advocates like colleagues, mentors and sponsors, but you need to be the most convincing voice in the room when it comes to issues of your own compensation. The work you do is challenging and hard and very time consuming, and you deserve to be paid equally with your male colleagues who are performing comparable jobs.

Unfortunately, we know that pay equity will not happen overnight. And it will take all of us working together to make it happen sooner rather than later —- or at all. Start by advocating for yourself and then as member of a larger advocacy group. Every voice counts.

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Thought For The Week: “Know where you stand and stand there.” Daniel Berrigan, SJ.

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Junior Lawyers Take The Lead

Associates at law firms throughout the country distinguished themselves earlier this week by taking a stand for their profession in a very public way. And they outdid themselves. In fact, they outdid the adults in the room on one of the most important challenges to the rule of law to be seen in this country for a very long time.

It all started when the Administration targeted three top law firms, Covington & Burling, Perkins Coie, and Paul Weiss, with Executive Orders stripping members of those firms of security clearances, terminating the firms’ government contracts, and limiting access of law firm members to government buildings and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sent letters to twenty other leading law firms, seeking information about their employment practices related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The common factor among the targeted firms seems to be that they have provided representation to clients that the White House disdains. To date, Biglaw leadership in firms throughout the country has remained silent in response to these retaliatory actions, a common tactic that can be interpreted as fear that similar reprisals could be taken against their firms in the future. In a recent development, however, Paul Weiss has agreed with the White House on some key issues.

Enter the young lawyers. Hundreds of them, who became authors and signatories to an Open Letter to law firm leadership calling out the way that the Executive Branch of government is misusing the justice system to seek retribution against those on its “enemies list.” These brave young lawyers, undoubtedly recognizing their own vulnerability in taking such a stance, did so because it was the right thing to do. They called out the efforts of the Executive Branch for canceling firms based on their DEI initiatives and their clientele. In further detailing other retaliatory steps that followed from the Executive Orders, the signatories to the Open Letter also made it clear that, although their politics may vary, they are “united in their condemnation of the Administration’s intimidation tactics.”

The gauntlet has been thrown down. The next step is for law firm leadership and senior lawyers across the nation to acknowledge the risk these young lawyers have taken and to join them in defending the rule of law in America and the profession that protects it. The last paragraph of the Open Letter sums it up well:

When we are united, we cannot be intimidated. These tactics only work if the majority does not speak up. Our hope was that our employers, some of the most profitable law firms in the world, would lead the way. This has not been the case, but it still very much can be. It is easy to be afraid of being the first to speak. We are removing that barrier; we are speaking. Now it is our employers’ turn.”

I am so proud of these young people and all who will follow suit in condemning the unconstitutional and unethical actions of the Executive Branch. To date, one thing is crystal clear. The kids are definitely all right.

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Thought For The Week: “Time, which changes people, does not alter the image we have of them.” Marcel Proust

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