TheCorporateCounsel.net

Earlier this month, the American Bar Association issued a statement on actions by the Trump administration that the ABA believes have undermined the rule of law and the legal profession. Here are the concluding paragraphs of that statement:

We reject efforts to undermine the courts and the profession. We will not stay silent in the face of efforts to remake the legal profession into something that rewards those who agree with the government and punishes those who do not. Words and actions matter. And the intimidating words and actions we have heard must end. They are designed to cow our country’s judges, our country’s courts and our legal profession. Consistent with the chief justice’s report, these efforts cannot be sanctioned or normalized.

There are clear choices facing our profession. 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. We call upon the entire profession, including lawyers who serve in elected positions, to speak out against intimidation. We acknowledge that there are risks to standing up and addressing these important issues. But if the ABA and lawyers do not speak, who will speak for the organized bar? Who will speak for the judiciary? Who will protect our system of justice? If we don’t speak now, when will we speak?

The American Bar Association has chosen to stand and speak. Now is the time for all of us to speak with one voice. We invite you to stand with us.

I’m in the twilight of my career and no longer face the pressures associated with practicing in a law firm or corporate law department, so my taking a stand on this issue is pretty far from courageous. Still, for what it’s worth, I believe the administration’s actions are inconsistent with the Constitution and the laws of the United States that I took an oath to support when I became a lawyer, and I’m adding my name to those much braver members of the profession who have already endorsed the ABA’s statement.

– John Jenkins