{"id":110663,"date":"2025-03-17T17:02:54","date_gmt":"2025-03-18T01:02:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/03\/17\/legal-ethics-roundup-impeachment-judicial-threats-another-law-firm-attack-ethics-politics-of-aba-ratings-law-applications-get-trump-bump-again\/"},"modified":"2025-03-17T17:02:54","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T01:02:54","slug":"legal-ethics-roundup-impeachment-judicial-threats-another-law-firm-attack-ethics-politics-of-aba-ratings-law-applications-get-trump-bump-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/03\/17\/legal-ethics-roundup-impeachment-judicial-threats-another-law-firm-attack-ethics-politics-of-aba-ratings-law-applications-get-trump-bump-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal Ethics Roundup: Impeachment + Judicial Threats, Another Law Firm Attack, Ethics + Politics Of ABA Ratings, Law Applications Get Trump Bump (Again)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ed. note<\/u>: Please welcome Renee Knake Jefferson to the pages of Above the Law. Subscribe to her Substack, Legal Ethics Roundup,\u00a0<\/strong>here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Welcome to what captivates, haunts, inspires, and surprises me every week in the world of legal ethics.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Highlights from Last Week\u00a0\u2013 Top Ten Headlines<\/h3>\n

#1 Continued Attacks on Lawyers \u2014 Federal Judge Says \u201cIt Sends Little Chills Down My Spine.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0New York Times<\/strong>: \u201cPresident Trump\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0retribution campaign against law firms, legal experts and analysts say, is undermining a central tenet of the American legal system \u2014 the right to a lawyer to argue vigorously on one\u2019s behalf. With the stroke of a pen last week, Mr. Trump sought to\u00a0cripple Perkins Coie<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0\u2026 by stripping its lawyers of security clearances needed to represent some clients and limiting the firm\u2019s access to government buildings and officials. That action came after he\u00a0revoked security clearances<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0held by any lawyers at the firm\u00a0Covington & Burling<\/strong>\u00a0\u2026 . Mr. Trump\u2019s attack on Big Law comes as his administration has also gone after law schools, the American Bar Association and even\u00a0lawyers inside the government itself<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0who might question or hinder his agenda. \u2026 Last week, the top federal prosecutor in Washington threatened to stop hiring graduates from\u00a0Georgetown Law School<\/strong>\u00a0if its dean,\u00a0William Treanor<\/strong>, failed to abolish the school\u2019s diversity programs. Mr. Treanor all but dared the prosecutor,\u00a0Ed Martin<\/strong>, to make good on his threats, saying that the First Amendment would forbid them.\u201d \u2026<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is certainly the biggest affront to the legal profession in my lifetime,\u201d said\u00a0Samuel W. Buell<\/strong>, who is a longtime professor of law at\u00a0Duke University<\/strong>\u00a0and a former federal prosecutor.<\/p>\n

A federal judge on Wednesday sided with\u00a0Perkins Coie<\/strong>\u00a0in an initial courtroom skirmish with the White House, temporarily barring a major portion of Mr. Trump\u2019s executive order against the firm from taking effect. \u201cI am sure that many in the profession are watching in horror at what Perkins Coie is going through,\u201d said\u00a0Judge Beryl A. Howell of the Federal District Court in Washington<\/strong>. She added, \u201cIt sends little chills down my spine\u201d to hear arguments that a president can punish individuals and companies like this.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Read the rest of the NYT coverage\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>. And if you haven\u2019t read Treanor\u2019s response to Martin, you\u2019ll find it\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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#2 Three Legal Ethics Scholars File Declarations to Support Perkins Coie\u2019s Temporary Restraining Order Win.<\/strong>\u00a0There will be more litigation, to be sure, over the Executive Order targeting\u00a0Perkins Coie<\/strong>. The firm has created a\u00a0website<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0for accessing the legal resources used in its defense, which includes declarations from\u00a0Bruce Green<\/strong>\u00a0(Fordham),\u00a0Robert Hirshon<\/strong>\u00a0(Michigan), and\u00a0Roy Simon<\/strong>\u00a0(Hofstra). I recommend reading all three.<\/p>\n

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#3 Paul Weiss Also Targeted With Executive Order.<\/strong>\u00a0From\u00a0Politico<\/strong>: \u201cPresident Donald Trump<\/strong>\u00a0continued his retaliatory spree against major law firms on Friday, signing an executive order targeting New York firm\u00a0Paul Weiss<\/strong>\u00a0days after a judge ruled that major parts of a similar order were unconstitutional. Trump\u2019s new order seeks to suspend the security clearances of attorneys with the firm and limit their access to government buildings, ability to get federal jobs and receive money from federal contracts.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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#4<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cJudges Become Targets in Combative Political Environment\u201d Including Calls for Impeachment.<\/strong>\u00a0From the\u00a0Wall Street Journal<\/strong>: \u201cHaving taken the White House and captured the Congress,\u00a0President Trump\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0movement is unleashing its fury on the one branch of government it doesn\u2019t fully control: the judiciary. As more judges have blocked or slowed some of Trump\u2019s initiatives, the president\u2019s surrogates have been increasingly strident in their responses, casting adverse rulings as not only incorrect but also illegitimate. \u2026\u00a0Sen. Mike Lee<\/strong>\u00a0(R., Utah), who has called for impeaching \u2018corrupt judges,\u2019 reposted a photo Thursday of\u00a0U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell<\/strong>, who blocked sanctions Trump imposed on a Democratic-leaning law firm,\u00a0Perkins Coie<\/strong>. Lee also has proposed legislation to limit federal courts\u2019 power to rule on administration policies. Perhaps the most aggressive has been\u00a0Elon Musk<\/strong>, the president\u2019s surrogate and billionaire benefactor, who has accused judges of interfering with the democratic process. \u2018The only way to restore rule of the people in America is to impeach judges,\u2019 he said in one post. \u2026 Judges say the blowback won\u2019t influence their rulings. But they fear that the messages from on high are whipping up threats and potentially violence against judges and their families.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(gift link).\u00a0Side note:<\/strong>\u00a0This isn\u2019t the first time we\u2019ve seen politically-motivated calls for impeaching judges, the most infamous being the campaign against\u00a0Chief Justice Earl Warren<\/strong>\u00a0in the 1950s and 1960s.<\/p>\n

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The first call for impeachment of Chief Justice Earl Warren, taped to a bulletin board in the 7th and Mission post office in San Francisco, and reported to the FBI. October 14, 1958. Source: Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Those efforts, of course, failed. Here\u2019s an excerpt from a speech Warren delivered in 1974 after retiring from the bench that could\u2019ve been written today: \u201c[T]he people of our nation are shocked by the disclosures and many are becoming so cynical that they are even doubting the soundness of our constitutional system. They overlook the fact that these transgressions do not stem from following the Constitution but rather from circumventing it.\u201d Read more about the Warren impeachment history in my forthcoming\u00a0Cardozo Law Review article<\/a><\/strong>, \u201cEthics Accountability: The Next Era for Judges and Lawyers.\u201d<\/p>\n

#5 \u201cThreats Against Judges \u2018Top Priority,\u2019 Fed. Judiciary Says.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0From\u00a0Law360<\/strong>: \u201cProtecting federal judges is a \u2018top priority\u2019 as violent threats spike against a polarized political backdrop, making congressional funding for additional security measures more important than ever, the U.S. Judicial Conference said Tuesday. In a press conference discussing the federal judiciary\u2019s 2024 annual report, U.S. Circuit Judge Richard J. Sullivan said the Judicial Conference is very concerned about threats against federal judges, which are at the\u00a0highest levels<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0in decades.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#6 \u201cMisconduct Hearing Underway for Prosecutor in Anti-Trump-Protest Cases.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0From the\u00a0Washington Post<\/strong>: \u201cA federal prosecutor accused of manipulating evidence alongside a D.C. police detective in an apparent attempt to convict anti-Trump demonstrators of rioting in the nation\u2019s capital was overwhelmed by an avalanche of cases brought over widespread disruption pegged to\u00a0Donald Trump\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a02017 inauguration, her lawyers said Tuesday. In the opening day of her misconduct case tried by prosecutors with\u00a0D.C.\u2019s Office of Disciplinary Counsel,<\/strong>\u00a0defense lawyers for\u00a0Jennifer Kerkhoff Muyskens<\/strong>\u00a0painted a picture of an office in disarray as she sought to lead the prosecution of more than 200 cases stemming from mass arrests made over several chaotic hours in the District.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(gift link).<\/p>\n

#7 Judges Should Avoid Advising on Presidential Orders According to MD Ethics Opinion.<\/strong>\u00a0From the\u00a0Maryland Daily Record<\/strong>: \u201cMaryland judges cannot provide bar association members with information or legal analysis on White House executive orders, the\u00a0Maryland Judicial Ethics Committee<\/strong>\u00a0found in an opinion published on Tuesday. The\u00a0opinion<\/a><\/strong>, published in response to a judge and a Maryland State Bar Association section council member\u2019s inquiry, states that a judge\u2019s participation in providing legal analysis on the White House executive orders \u2018might reasonably raise a question of impropriety,\u2019 contrary to the Maryland Code of Judicial Conduct. \u2018Although judges appropriately participate in general educational activities through the MSBA and other bar organizations, in our view, for the current and recalled\/senior judges who serve on these MSBA committees, the evaluation and analysis of White House Executive Orders is so specific that it would constitute the practice of law and, moreover, can be seen as indirectly advising the members\u2019 clients themselves,\u2019 the Maryland Judicial Ethics Committee wrote.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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#8 \u201cGOP Sens. Escalate Fight With ABA Over \u2018Leftist\u2019 Statements.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0From\u00a0Law360<\/strong>: \u201cA group of Senate Republicans are once again going after the American Bar Association, which they claim has become a \u2018leftist\u2019 organization, and announced Monday they will disregard ABA ratings on judicial nominees and encouraged the Trump administration and their colleagues to do the same. Six Republicans, five of whom serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Monday they sent\u00a0ABA President William R. Bay<\/strong>\u00a0a letter on March 7 informing the group of their position, which they justified based on the ABA\u2019s recent claim that the Trump administration has been thwarting the rule of law since taking office in January.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and download the letter from the Republican members of the Senate\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0Side note:<\/strong>\u00a0This isn\u2019t the first time politicians have threatened to ignore ABA ratings on judicial nominees. In 2001, the\u00a0George W. Bush<\/strong>\u00a0administration took a similar action. For more on that history, see \u201cWhite House Ends Bar Association\u2019s Role in Screening Federal Judges\u201d from the\u00a0New York Times\u00a0<\/strong>published in March 2001\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(gift link) and read the letter from former White House Counsel\u00a0Alberto Gonzalez<\/strong>\u00a0to\u00a0then-ABA President Martha Barnett<\/strong>\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>. (There is a much longer, more complicated history to tell about the ethics and politicization of ABA judicial ratings \u2014 see my book\u00a0Shortlisted: Women in the Shadows of the Supreme Court<\/a><\/strong>.)<\/p>\n

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Source: George W. Bush White House Archives<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

#9 Lawyer Suspended for \u201cCarelessly\u201d Disclosing Documents in Alex Jones Case.<\/strong>\u00a0From the\u00a0Connecticut Post<\/strong>: \u201cA high-profile New Haven attorney has been barred from practicing law for two weeks in Connecticut for \u2018carelessly\u2019 sharing confidential medical records of Sandy Hook families with other attorneys during the 2022\u00a0Alex Jones<\/strong>\u00a0defamation awards trials.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#10 Law School Applications See Another Trump Bump; Meanwhile CA May Grant Temp License to Practice After Botched Bar Exam.\u00a0<\/strong>Two headlines for #10.\u00a0First,<\/strong>\u00a0from\u00a0Bloomberg Law<\/strong>: \u201cThe\u00a0California Committee of Bar Examiners<\/strong>\u00a0recommended Friday that the state\u2019s highest court expand a pre-license program to people who took the poorly administered February 2025 bar exam.\u201d Read more\u00a0here.<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0Second<\/strong>, from the\u00a0Wall Street Journal<\/strong>: \u201cA weakening white-collar job market and a contentious political climate are fueling interest in law school, leading to one of the most competitive years for would-be law students in recent memory. The number of applicants to the nation\u2019s nearly 200 law schools is up 20.5% compared with last year. Georgetown University Law Center alone received 14,000 applications to fill 650 spots, while the University of Michigan Law School now has more applications than at any point in its 166 years of existence. When\u00a0Michigan Law\u2019s admissions dean,<\/strong>\u00a0Sarah Zearfoss<\/strong>, shared the numbers with faculty members, \u2018The whole room gasped,\u2019 she said.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(gift link). Side note: For some historical context about the so-called \u201cTrump Bump\u201d in law school applications, take a look at\u00a0Ben Barton\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0(Tennessee) book published in 2019,\u00a0Fixing Law Schools: From Collapse to the Trump Bump and Beyond<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Where\u2019s the Rest of the Roundup?<\/h3>\n

Revisit the\u00a0\u201cWelcome Back Edition\u201d<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0for an explanation of the new format. And keep an eye out for next month\u2019s \u201cFirst Monday Edition\u201d with reading recommendations, analysis, reforms watch, jobs, events, and much more.<\/p>\n

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Get Hired<\/h3>\n

Did you miss the 100+ job postings from previous weeks? Find them all\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Upcoming Ethics Events & Other Announcements<\/h3>\n

Did you miss an announcement from previous weeks? Find them all\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Keep in Touch<\/h3>\n