Even the legal wonks are standing up to Trump

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I participated several years ago in an ABA advisory panel of lawyers, journalists, and other professionals tasked with finding ways to better communicate the importance of the rule of law to the public. The work was less about making fiery, impassioned pleas and more about reviewing policy papers and publications and the like. It wasn't sexy stuff. But it was very ABA.
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That's why I was surprised when the organization became a central player in the very public, very political war President Trump and his administration have declared on judges and lawyers. Among the salvos: executive orders aimed at law firms that have represented Democratic clients, demands that law firms donate pro bono services to the administration or be punished with stripped security clearances, canceled government contracts, and barring its attorneys from seeking government jobs.
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But as it turns out, the wonks are ready for battle.
On Monday
This is different from ongoing challenges by law firms that have been targeted by Trump's executive orders. By claiming that all of the ABA's estimated 227,000 members are endangered by Trump's attack on law firms, it gives the court the ability to grant much broader relief, rather than forcing firms to individually challenge each executive action against them like an autocratic game of whack-a-mole.
As I noted
That is one reason the ABA created the Special Committee on Legal Aid Work
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This should be uncontroversial stuff. But as its new lawsuit states, these are not normal times.
'Today, though, the American legal profession faces a challenge that is different from all that has come before,' the complaint states. 'It is unprecedented and uniquely dangerous to the rule of law.'
Through a spokesperson, William R. Bay, president of the American Bar Association, declined to comment because litigation is ongoing. But a statement that Bay
'There are clear choices facing our profession,' Bay wrote. 'We can choose to remain silent and allow these acts to continue or we can stand for the rule of law and the values we hold dear. We call upon the entire profession, including lawyers who serve in elected positions, to speak out against intimidation.'
I am not an ABA member, but I count myself proudly among the wonks in support of protecting the rule of law. Actions like this lawsuit help the legal profession stand in solidarity against efforts to pick off firms one by one. That's not partisan activism. That's democracy in action.
Kimberly Atkins Stohr is a columnist for the Globe. She may be reached at

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