{"id":116114,"date":"2025-04-22T16:25:35","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T00:25:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/04\/22\/rachel-cohen-former-skadden-associate-to-be-honored-for-condemning-trumps-assault-on-the-rule-of-law\/"},"modified":"2025-04-22T16:25:35","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T00:25:35","slug":"rachel-cohen-former-skadden-associate-to-be-honored-for-condemning-trumps-assault-on-the-rule-of-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/04\/22\/rachel-cohen-former-skadden-associate-to-be-honored-for-condemning-trumps-assault-on-the-rule-of-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Rachel Cohen, Former Skadden Associate, To Be Honored For Condemning Trump\u2019s Assault On The Rule Of Law"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
(Photo by Kayla Bartkowski\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With the rule of law being bent to its maximum capacity<\/a> under the Trump administration, many lawyers find themselves unable to do anything but watch the situation unfold<\/a>, slack jawed with confusion about how this could possibly be happening in America. Other lawyers, however, have found the courage and resolve to stand up and do what is right \u2014 regardless of the fact that they may have been standing alone in their quest to protect the legal profession from harm.<\/p>\n

One of those fearless lawyers is Rachel Cohen, the former Skadden associate who found herself publicly condemning Trump\u2019s threat to the rule of law before many others found the strength to join her. <\/p>\n

You may remember Cohen, who just one month ago was a third-year finance associate at an elite Biglaw firm, as the one who\u00a0worked to\u00a0put together the open letter<\/a>\u00a0that\u2019s now been signed by nearly 2,000 associates, asking that Biglaw\u2019s leaders speak up in defense of the legal profession.\u00a0She then offered the firm her \u201cconditional\u201d two-weeks\u2019 notice via firmwide email, pleading that Skadden simply do the right thing and admonish the Trump administration<\/a> for its attacks on law firms. \u201cWe do not have time,\u201d Cohen wrote. \u201cIt is now or it is never, and if it is never, I will not continue to work here.\u201d The firm accepted Cohen\u2019s resignation, and days later, word of Skadden\u2019s capitulation to Trump<\/a> hit the news. To this day, Cohen continues to rally around lawyers, encouraging them to pursue justice for the rule of law in America, and now she\u2019s being rewarded for it.<\/p>\n

The Rosenstrasse Civil Courage Foundation, a nonprofit organization based on \u201cinspiring acts of civil courage in
everyday life on behalf of democracy,\u201d recently announced that it would be honoring two lawyers \u201cfor their courage at a time when the rule of law is under threat\u201d \u2014 and one of them is Rachel Cohen. Here are some additional details<\/a> on the lawyers who will be receiving RCCF\u2019s Civil Courage Awards:<\/p>\n

\n

The RCCF will honor Nikki Fried<\/a>, the prominent attorney, community organizer, and Chair of Florida\u2019s Democratic Party, who was arrested in 2023 for violating Florida\u2019s new anti-demonstration bans while supporting freedom of choice. We will also be recognizing Rachel A. Cohen, the associate lawyer at Skadden for organizing hundreds of other big law associates to press their leadership to stand up for the rule of law, and then resigning her position in protest of her firm\u2019s deal with Donald J. Trump, as she stated in her recent testimony before a bicameral congressional panel<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Now is the time for\u00a0you<\/em>\u00a0to follow Nikki and Rachel\u2019s lead. Make your voices heard. Condemn Trump\u2019s attacks against lawyers. Protect the profession. It is crucial that you rise up to protect the rule of law, which can only bend so much until it breaks and our democracy lays in ruins.<\/p>\n

The awards reception will be held at Covington & Burling\u2019s Washington, D.C., office on Thursday, May 1, from 5 to 7 p.m. This event is taking place on the same day as the National Law Day of Action<\/a>, which is a wonderful conclusion to a day of purposeful protest. Please click here<\/a> to reserve a ticket if you\u2019re interested in attending.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Staci
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Rachel Cohen, Former Skadden Associate, To Be Honored For Condemning Trump\u2019s Assault On The Rule Of Law<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
(Photo by Kayla Bartkowski\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With the rule of law being bent to its maximum capacity<\/a> under the Trump administration, many lawyers find themselves unable to do anything but watch the situation unfold<\/a>, slack jawed with confusion about how this could possibly be happening in America. Other lawyers, however, have found the courage and resolve to stand up and do what is right \u2014 regardless of the fact that they may have been standing alone in their quest to protect the legal profession from harm.<\/p>\n

One of those fearless lawyers is Rachel Cohen, the former Skadden associate who found herself publicly condemning Trump\u2019s threat to the rule of law before many others found the strength to join her. <\/p>\n

You may remember Cohen, who just one month ago was a third-year finance associate at an elite Biglaw firm, as the one who\u00a0worked to\u00a0put together the open letter<\/a>\u00a0that\u2019s now been signed by nearly 2,000 associates, asking that Biglaw\u2019s leaders speak up in defense of the legal profession.\u00a0She then offered the firm her \u201cconditional\u201d two-weeks\u2019 notice via firmwide email, pleading that Skadden simply do the right thing and admonish the Trump administration<\/a> for its attacks on law firms. \u201cWe do not have time,\u201d Cohen wrote. \u201cIt is now or it is never, and if it is never, I will not continue to work here.\u201d The firm accepted Cohen\u2019s resignation, and days later, word of Skadden\u2019s capitulation to Trump<\/a> hit the news. To this day, Cohen continues to rally around lawyers, encouraging them to pursue justice for the rule of law in America, and now she\u2019s being rewarded for it.<\/p>\n

The Rosenstrasse Civil Courage Foundation, a nonprofit organization based on \u201cinspiring acts of civil courage in
everyday life on behalf of democracy,\u201d recently announced that it would be honoring two lawyers \u201cfor their courage at a time when the rule of law is under threat\u201d \u2014 and one of them is Rachel Cohen. Here are some additional details<\/a> on the lawyers who will be receiving RCCF\u2019s Civil Courage Awards:<\/p>\n

\n

The RCCF will honor Nikki Fried<\/a>, the prominent attorney, community organizer, and Chair of Florida\u2019s Democratic Party, who was arrested in 2023 for violating Florida\u2019s new anti-demonstration bans while supporting freedom of choice. We will also be recognizing Rachel A. Cohen, the associate lawyer at Skadden for organizing hundreds of other big law associates to press their leadership to stand up for the rule of law, and then resigning her position in protest of her firm\u2019s deal with Donald J. Trump, as she stated in her recent testimony before a bicameral congressional panel<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Now is the time for\u00a0you<\/em>\u00a0to follow Nikki and Rachel\u2019s lead. Make your voices heard. Condemn Trump\u2019s attacks against lawyers. Protect the profession. It is crucial that you rise up to protect the rule of law, which can only bend so much until it breaks and our democracy lays in ruins.<\/p>\n

The awards reception will be held at Covington & Burling\u2019s Washington, D.C., office on Thursday, May 1, from 5 to 7 p.m. This event is taking place on the same day as the National Law Day of Action<\/a>, which is a wonderful conclusion to a day of purposeful protest. Please click here<\/a> to reserve a ticket if you\u2019re interested in attending.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Staci
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Rachel Cohen, Former Skadden Associate, To Be Honored For Condemning Trump\u2019s Assault On The Rule Of Law<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Photo by Kayla Bartkowski\/Getty Images) With the rule of law being bent to its maximum capacity under the Trump administration, many lawyers find themselves unable to do anything but watch the situation unfold, slack jawed with confusion about how this could possibly be happening in America. Other lawyers, however, have found the courage and resolve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":116115,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Staci-Zaretsky-0WPu1z.jpeg?fit=150%2C100&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}