Back in December, the Virginia State Bar declined to pursue an ethics probe into the insurance lawyer posing as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. The Trump administration had illegally installed Lindsey Halligan into that role, and she took advantage of that opportunity to pursue bad cases against the president’s perceived enemies list. And she even managed to screw those up. Despite the judicial scoldings, Halligan continued to play act as U.S. Attorney until Judge David Novak leveled a scathing rebuke, forcing the DOJ to finally back away from Halligan.
At the time, Virginia professional regulators refused to act on a complaint filed by the Campaign for Accountability, claiming “Whether criminal indictments were obtained through material misrepresentations of fact and done for political purposes falls within the authority of the court to determine and not this office.” Fast forward, and the courts have adjudicated this and more, so the Campaign has filed its renewed complaint.
Which frankly showed tremendous restraint by not opening with “Yes, Virginia, there is a code of professional conduct.”
Federal judges have now issued rulings finding that Halligan operated without legal authority, defied judicial orders, and made “fundamental misstatements of the law.” The bar wanted the courts to do their job. The courts did their job. Tag, you’re it.
Magistrate Judge William E. Fitzpatrick first found that Halligan made “fundamental misstatements of the law” in the grand jury process, including suggesting the former FBI director didn’t have a Fifth Amendment right not to testify. Then Judge Cameron McGowan Currie ruled Halligan had been unlawfully serving as U.S. Attorney since September 22, 2025, and had no lawful authority to present indictments against James Comey or New York Attorney General Letitia James in the first place. Which brought us to Judge David Novak wondering why Halligan kept signing filings as though she hadn’t already been told to stop. After conclusively demanding Halligan knock it off, Judge Novak warned that he’d refer her to the Virginia Bar if she continued.
But a judge referral isn’t required for a state bar to perform its baseline ethical obligations.
In fact, the Virginia bar previously disciplined prosecutors without judicial referrals. A Fairfax County prosecutor got disciplined for suborning perjury. A Prince George’s County prosecutor got disciplined for incompetence. If there’s any difference here, it’s that there’s an even deeper record of possible violations. “Two federal judges found that Ms. Halligan operated without legal authority, with one finding she openly defied court orders, and another concluded she misled a grand jury,” CfA’s Michelle Kuppersmith explained. “Contrary to the Virginia State Bar’s claims, it has the authority and must act to investigate these serious allegations and hold Ms. Halligan accountable.”
The new complaint provides another whirlwind journey through the ethical rules, highlighting a treasure trove of “stuff lawyers shouldn’t do.”
Failing to investigate under these egregious circumstances sends the message that powerful prosecutors can violate ethical rules with impunity, safe in the knowledge that the Bar will turn a blind eye.
While they claimed to be deferring to the courts, it’s impossible to read the bar’s earlier retreat as anything but an attempt to avoid the administration’s ire. From Biglaw firms to institutions of higher learning, anyone crossing the White House finds itself on the receiving end of government harassment. Those petty efforts consistently wither in litigation, but it is easier to avoid the issue entirely.
But gatekeeping the profession isn’t supposed to be easy. It’s a serious job and attorneys deserve a regulator that isn’t going to shirk that responsibility.
When it’s all said and done, the only accountability that these lawyers are likely to ever face for their abuses will have to come from the profession itself. It’s going to be on lawyers to police our own and make sure that attorneys filing frivolous, retaliatory criminal suits or lying to tribunals don’t get to saunter through the revolving door back to a cushy firm job when this is over. They can’t be allowed to practice again.
Ball’s back in your court, Virginia.
Earlier: Virginia State Bar Whistles Past Lindsey Halligan Ethics Complaint Claiming It’s Not Their Job
Disbar Them All: The Only Accountability Left For Trump’s Lawyers
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.
The post The Courts Did Their Job, Will State Bar Finally Do Something About Lindsey Halligan? appeared first on Above the Law.
Back in December, the Virginia State Bar declined to pursue an ethics probe into the insurance lawyer posing as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. The Trump administration had illegally installed Lindsey Halligan into that role, and she took advantage of that opportunity to pursue bad cases against the president’s perceived enemies list. And she even managed to screw those up. Despite the judicial scoldings, Halligan continued to play act as U.S. Attorney until Judge David Novak leveled a scathing rebuke, forcing the DOJ to finally back away from Halligan.
At the time, Virginia professional regulators refused to act on a complaint filed by the Campaign for Accountability, claiming “Whether criminal indictments were obtained through material misrepresentations of fact and done for political purposes falls within the authority of the court to determine and not this office.” Fast forward, and the courts have adjudicated this and more, so the Campaign has filed its renewed complaint.
Which frankly showed tremendous restraint by not opening with “Yes, Virginia, there is a code of professional conduct.”
Federal judges have now issued rulings finding that Halligan operated without legal authority, defied judicial orders, and made “fundamental misstatements of the law.” The bar wanted the courts to do their job. The courts did their job. Tag, you’re it.
Magistrate Judge William E. Fitzpatrick first found that Halligan made “fundamental misstatements of the law” in the grand jury process, including suggesting the former FBI director didn’t have a Fifth Amendment right not to testify. Then Judge Cameron McGowan Currie ruled Halligan had been unlawfully serving as U.S. Attorney since September 22, 2025, and had no lawful authority to present indictments against James Comey or New York Attorney General Letitia James in the first place. Which brought us to Judge David Novak wondering why Halligan kept signing filings as though she hadn’t already been told to stop. After conclusively demanding Halligan knock it off, Judge Novak warned that he’d refer her to the Virginia Bar if she continued.
But a judge referral isn’t required for a state bar to perform its baseline ethical obligations.
In fact, the Virginia bar previously disciplined prosecutors without judicial referrals. A Fairfax County prosecutor got disciplined for suborning perjury. A Prince George’s County prosecutor got disciplined for incompetence. If there’s any difference here, it’s that there’s an even deeper record of possible violations. “Two federal judges found that Ms. Halligan operated without legal authority, with one finding she openly defied court orders, and another concluded she misled a grand jury,” CfA’s Michelle Kuppersmith explained. “Contrary to the Virginia State Bar’s claims, it has the authority and must act to investigate these serious allegations and hold Ms. Halligan accountable.”
The new complaint provides another whirlwind journey through the ethical rules, highlighting a treasure trove of “stuff lawyers shouldn’t do.”
Failing to investigate under these egregious circumstances sends the message that powerful prosecutors can violate ethical rules with impunity, safe in the knowledge that the Bar will turn a blind eye.
While they claimed to be deferring to the courts, it’s impossible to read the bar’s earlier retreat as anything but an attempt to avoid the administration’s ire. From Biglaw firms to institutions of higher learning, anyone crossing the White House finds itself on the receiving end of government harassment. Those petty efforts consistently wither in litigation, but it is easier to avoid the issue entirely.
But gatekeeping the profession isn’t supposed to be easy. It’s a serious job and attorneys deserve a regulator that isn’t going to shirk that responsibility.
When it’s all said and done, the only accountability that these lawyers are likely to ever face for their abuses will have to come from the profession itself. It’s going to be on lawyers to police our own and make sure that attorneys filing frivolous, retaliatory criminal suits or lying to tribunals don’t get to saunter through the revolving door back to a cushy firm job when this is over. They can’t be allowed to practice again.
Ball’s back in your court, Virginia.
Earlier: Virginia State Bar Whistles Past Lindsey Halligan Ethics Complaint Claiming It’s Not Their Job
Disbar Them All: The Only Accountability Left For Trump’s Lawyers
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.
The post The Courts Did Their Job, Will State Bar Finally Do Something About Lindsey Halligan? appeared first on Above the Law.
