Over the last month, the surest path to electoral success is mercilessly dunking on the Trump administration. Canada’s Liberals were getting whipped like it was macaron challenge week on Bake Off before Trump started calling them the 51st state. The Australian Labor Party were also down before they positioned themselves against “Make Australia Great Again” copycats. Now the Vatican elected a dark horse Pope after he called out JD Vance on Twitter.
If you want to win an election in 2025, you need to get as far away from the White House as possible.
It seems that this trend could continue in the DC Bar leadership race.
Turnout is through the roof and it’s hard to separate that from the candidates in the race. In any normal year, a Paul Hastings partner running on a platform of CLE reform wouldn’t raise any eyebrows, but this isn’t a normal year. But Pam Bondi currently serves as the managing partner of Trump’s personal law firm and her brother Brad finds himself in the same boat as all the other candidates around the world facing the headwinds of Hurricane Donald.
We won’t know the results until next month, but extraordinarily high turnout doesn’t bode well for Bondi. The campaign hasn’t helped either: at a recent candidate meet-and-greet, Bondi sent an associate in his stead — wonder what the billing code is for that? — because he was tied up with a client meeting. At a subsequent candidate forum that he could attend, Bondi seemed to air his frustration over the role his sister’s job is having on the race.
“Her allies are spreading irresponsible fabrications claiming I’m conspiring with political forces because of my older sister’s role as the attorney general — things that are as baseless as they are beneath the dignity of our bar,” said Bondi, who is global co-chair of the investigations and white collar defense practice at Paul Hastings.
As we wrote early in this campaign, the idea of a conspiracy seemed far-fetched. The president of the DC Bar doesn’t have the authority to suspend due process via executive order. Neither does the president of the US for that matter… not that Bondi’s sister seems to know that. The role Brad Bondi seeks is relatively insulated from much risk of mischief.
But that’s not really the point. To go back to our prior article, “bar associations perform valuable pro bono and professional development services in areas that the Trump administration actively attacks other bar associations for championing” and “this doesn’t feel like the moment to turn over the District’s lawyer association to candidates with deep personal and professional ties to an administration already blowing past historical guardrails.” Bar associations have to stand up for their pro bono work and their diversity work and their fellow bar associations and law firms fighting for the rule of law.
It’s not so much about a conspiracy as it’s about optics and symbolism. The bar shouldn’t have a president right now that anyone can even think has a conflict when it comes to speaking out against this administration. If Bondi’s campaign centered on I’ve been a pest to my sister my whole life and I promise to be one now then he might be able to turn those optics to his advantage. But when he’s running on a Pam who? platform, it’s both unpersuasive and simply does not meet the moment.
And that sucks for him, but sometimes we can’t get what we want because of forces beyond our control. The fact that he doesn’t seem to grasp that, based on those forum remarks, evinces the brand of unchecked privilege that can run casually rampant among lawyers. When you’ve lived a life of working hard and getting all the accolades for it, it’s easy to convince yourself that’s all it takes.
But it’s not and part of being a leader of the bar might be understanding when the best way to lend a hand is to get out of the way until 2028… or whenever Trump finally leaves.
Earlier: Pam Bondi’s Brother And Ed Martin’s Assistant Running To Lead D.C. Bar… No Way This Is A Bad Idea!
The post DC Bar Election Seems To Be Tracking Canada, Australia… Papacy appeared first on Above the Law.
Over the last month, the surest path to electoral success is mercilessly dunking on the Trump administration. Canada’s Liberals were getting whipped like it was macaron challenge week on Bake Off before Trump started calling them the 51st state. The Australian Labor Party were also down before they positioned themselves against “Make Australia Great Again” copycats. Now the Vatican elected a dark horse Pope after he called out JD Vance on Twitter.
If you want to win an election in 2025, you need to get as far away from the White House as possible.
It seems that this trend could continue in the DC Bar leadership race.
Turnout is through the roof and it’s hard to separate that from the candidates in the race. In any normal year, a Paul Hastings partner running on a platform of CLE reform wouldn’t raise any eyebrows, but this isn’t a normal year. But Pam Bondi currently serves as the managing partner of Trump’s personal law firm and her brother Brad finds himself in the same boat as all the other candidates around the world facing the headwinds of Hurricane Donald.
We won’t know the results until next month, but extraordinarily high turnout doesn’t bode well for Bondi. The campaign hasn’t helped either: at a recent candidate meet-and-greet, Bondi sent an associate in his stead — wonder what the billing code is for that? — because he was tied up with a client meeting. At a subsequent candidate forum that he could attend, Bondi seemed to air his frustration over the role his sister’s job is having on the race.
“Her allies are spreading irresponsible fabrications claiming I’m conspiring with political forces because of my older sister’s role as the attorney general — things that are as baseless as they are beneath the dignity of our bar,” said Bondi, who is global co-chair of the investigations and white collar defense practice at Paul Hastings.
As we wrote early in this campaign, the idea of a conspiracy seemed far-fetched. The president of the DC Bar doesn’t have the authority to suspend due process via executive order. Neither does the president of the US for that matter… not that Bondi’s sister seems to know that. The role Brad Bondi seeks is relatively insulated from much risk of mischief.
But that’s not really the point. To go back to our prior article, “bar associations perform valuable pro bono and professional development services in areas that the Trump administration actively attacks other bar associations for championing” and “this doesn’t feel like the moment to turn over the District’s lawyer association to candidates with deep personal and professional ties to an administration already blowing past historical guardrails.” Bar associations have to stand up for their pro bono work and their diversity work and their fellow bar associations and law firms fighting for the rule of law.
It’s not so much about a conspiracy as it’s about optics and symbolism. The bar shouldn’t have a president right now that anyone can even think has a conflict when it comes to speaking out against this administration. If Bondi’s campaign centered on I’ve been a pest to my sister my whole life and I promise to be one now then he might be able to turn those optics to his advantage. But when he’s running on a Pam who? platform, it’s both unpersuasive and simply does not meet the moment.
And that sucks for him, but sometimes we can’t get what we want because of forces beyond our control. The fact that he doesn’t seem to grasp that, based on those forum remarks, evinces the brand of unchecked privilege that can run casually rampant among lawyers. When you’ve lived a life of working hard and getting all the accolades for it, it’s easy to convince yourself that’s all it takes.
But it’s not and part of being a leader of the bar might be understanding when the best way to lend a hand is to get out of the way until 2028… or whenever Trump finally leaves.
Earlier: Pam Bondi’s Brother And Ed Martin’s Assistant Running To Lead D.C. Bar… No Way This Is A Bad Idea!
