Why Lawyers Need to Support the American Bar Association.
By Michael Posner
The independence of America’s legal profession is under unprecedented attack. Last week, the American Bar Association took the extraordinary step of suing the Trump administration to protect law firms from government retaliation—firms that are being punished simply for opposing administration policies. The ABA is urging a federal court in Washington D.C. to strike down Presidential executive orders that have restricted the ability of law firms to even speak with government officials, calling these actions "unprecedented and uniquely dangerous to the rule of law."
In describing the ABA's decision to file this lawsuit, the organization's President William Bay said, "The administration's intimidation of lawyers and law firms has gone on long enough and needs to stop immediately." He noted that while a few law firms are now protected by specific court orders, there are "thousands of lawyers who are not party to those cases and don't have the resources to withstand that intimidation, and we're standing up for them."
This domestic crisis threatens not just American lawyers, but also the ABA's crucial work defending and supporting legal institutions at home and abroad. As the ABA rises to defend the nation's legal profession, American lawyers must rally to support the ABA in return.
Read the full Forbes article.
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Michael Posner is the Jerome Kohlberg Professor of Ethics and Finance, Professor of Business and Society and Director of the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights.