{"id":121562,"date":"2025-06-03T09:02:43","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T17:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/06\/03\/german-bar-association-warns-that-working-with-yellow-bellied-firms-could-violate-professional-codes-of-conduct\/"},"modified":"2025-06-03T09:02:43","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T17:02:43","slug":"german-bar-association-warns-that-working-with-yellow-bellied-firms-could-violate-professional-codes-of-conduct","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/06\/03\/german-bar-association-warns-that-working-with-yellow-bellied-firms-could-violate-professional-codes-of-conduct\/","title":{"rendered":"German Bar Association Warns That Working With Yellow-Bellied Firms Could Violate Professional Codes Of Conduct"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Photo by Fran Santiago\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re welcome to do dealings with foreign governments when it makes sense, but don\u2019t go accepting compromising deals as their agents or get knighted or something.\u201d Not only is this some simple advice, it is echoed constitutionally in the emoluments clause! Now, was incorporating this sentiment in our supreme document enough to prevent Trump from accepting a $400M totally-not-a-bribe plane from Qatar<\/a> or Justice Alito becoming a Constantinian knight<\/a>? No, but it is enough for the German government to take notice of how ripe the ground for foul play is in the land of the free. The German Bar Association took it upon themselves to remind German lawyers of their ethical responsibilities \u2014 especially if their work involved one of the Yellow-Bellied Nine. Law.com<\/a> has coverage:<\/p>\n

\n

German lawyers who work with any of the nine U.S. law firms that made deals with the Trump administration could be in breach of the German legal professional code of conduct, the German Bar Association (DAV) has warned.<\/p>\n

The association reminded members in an 11-page position paper of their obligations under the first paragraph of the Federal Code for Lawyers (Bundesrechtsanwaltsordnung or BRAO),\u00a0<\/em>which requires lawyers \u201cto maintain independence from the state and to avoid any contractual or other binding agreements that would compromise their freedom to act solely in the interest of their client.\u201d
\u2026
\u201cIt appears possible, and perhaps even probable, that the respective firms have violated the duty of independence by concluding these deals,\u201d the Bar Association said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And the suspicion makes sense. If pledging $100M in labor to a government that can direct that effort to whatever causes it sees fit doesn\u2019t make you an arm of that government, what more would it take? Remember how quickly the scope of expected pro bono work changed from general civil rights projects to defending police officers against excessive force claims<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Our ongoing rule of law crisis may make things seem as if everything is permissible so long as the Orange One approves, but don\u2019t forget about the external consequences. Individual lawyers may be found in breach of conduct and law firms may have their license to provide legal services in Germany revoked. Tread lightly. <\/p>\n

German Bar Association Warns Firms That Trump Deals Violate Legal Code<\/a> [Law.com]<\/p>\n

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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord\u2122 in the Facebook group\u00a0Law School Memes for Edgy T14s<\/a>. \u00a0He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim,\u00a0is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at\u00a0cwilliams@abovethelaw.com<\/a>\u00a0and by tweet at\u00a0@WritesForRent<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The post German Bar Association Warns That Working With Yellow-Bellied Firms Could Violate Professional Codes Of Conduct<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
(Photo by Fran Santiago\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re welcome to do dealings with foreign governments when it makes sense, but don\u2019t go accepting compromising deals as their agents or get knighted or something.\u201d Not only is this some simple advice, it is echoed constitutionally in the emoluments clause! Now, was incorporating this sentiment in our supreme document enough to prevent Trump from accepting a $400M totally-not-a-bribe plane from Qatar<\/a> or Justice Alito becoming a Constantinian knight<\/a>? No, but it is enough for the German government to take notice of how ripe the ground for foul play is in the land of the free. The German Bar Association took it upon themselves to remind German lawyers of their ethical responsibilities \u2014 especially if their work involved one of the Yellow-Bellied Nine. Law.com<\/a> has coverage:<\/p>\n

\n

German lawyers who work with any of the nine U.S. law firms that made deals with the Trump administration could be in breach of the German legal professional code of conduct, the German Bar Association (DAV) has warned.<\/p>\n

The association reminded members in an 11-page position paper of their obligations under the first paragraph of the Federal Code for Lawyers (Bundesrechtsanwaltsordnung or BRAO),\u00a0<\/em>which requires lawyers \u201cto maintain independence from the state and to avoid any contractual or other binding agreements that would compromise their freedom to act solely in the interest of their client.\u201d
\u2026
\u201cIt appears possible, and perhaps even probable, that the respective firms have violated the duty of independence by concluding these deals,\u201d the Bar Association said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And the suspicion makes sense. If pledging $100M in labor to a government that can direct that effort to whatever causes it sees fit doesn\u2019t make you an arm of that government, what more would it take? Remember how quickly the scope of expected pro bono work changed from general civil rights projects to defending police officers against excessive force claims<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Our ongoing rule of law crisis may make things seem as if everything is permissible so long as the Orange One approves, but don\u2019t forget about the external consequences. Individual lawyers may be found in breach of conduct and law firms may have their license to provide legal services in Germany revoked. Tread lightly. <\/p>\n

German Bar Association Warns Firms That Trump Deals Violate Legal Code<\/a> [Law.com]<\/p>\n

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

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord\u2122 in the Facebook group\u00a0Law School Memes for Edgy T14s<\/a>. \u00a0He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim,\u00a0is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at\u00a0[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>\u00a0and by tweet at\u00a0@WritesForRent<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Photo by Fran Santiago\/Getty Images) \u201cYou\u2019re welcome to do dealings with foreign governments when it makes sense, but don\u2019t go accepting compromising deals as their agents or get knighted or something.\u201d Not only is this some simple advice, it is echoed constitutionally in the emoluments clause! Now, was incorporating this sentiment in our supreme document […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":121450,"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-121562","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\/06\/Williams-620x620-yhqA4a.jpeg?fit=620%2C620&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121562","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=121562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121562\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}