Stand with Us: Open Letter to Members & Friends

STAND with Us for the Rule of Law: 
An Open Letter to Members & Friends

With last week’s decision in the Susman Godfrey case, the law firms who challenged Executive Orders aimed at them defeated them 4-0.  Subject to possible appeals, this threat to the rule of law has been convincingly defeated.  These law firms have established – and there should never have been any doubt – that they are free to take on any clients they choose, representing them in both civil and criminal actions brought by the government, and in their own challenges to governmental actions, among many other things.  The ability of lawyers to take adversarial positions against the government is an essential part of our system, critical to how we have gone about enforcing the rule of law for 250 years.

What have we at NYCLA been doing for the past six months to support the Rule of Law?  There are many things.

• We’ve been issuing statements, and many of them, whenever there has been action directed to undermining the rule of law or the administration of justice, the law firm Executive Order cases being one example.  Indeed, we have issued more of these statements than any other bar association.

• We’ve defended the judiciary whenever we believe necessary against unwarranted attacks, threats of impeachment, and physical violence.

• We helped organize a May 1 Law Day Rally attended by 2000 lawyers in Foley Square to promote and defend the rule of law.

• We’ve hosted and coordinated various other bar groups, to gain strength in numbers, on issues such as ongoing threats to the rule of law and due process in immigration cases. 

• We participated in the filing of amicus briefs in the law firm Executive Order cases; we intend to continue to do that in connection with any appeals. 

We hope you’ve noticed at least some of our activities in support of the rule of law, which is under a historically aberrant attack.  We fully intend to continue our efforts.

We understand the frustration that many individual lawyers have with the reluctance of many large law firms, including in many instances their own, to speak out in defense of the rule of law.  We also understand the constraints that many law firms are under that make it difficult to speak out.  Bar associations, including ours, are not under any such constraints—it’s the core part of our mission.  We will continue to speak out, to defend the rule of law. This is a non-partisan issue that all lawyers should be able to stand behind; it’s apolitical but fundamental to the profession.

What can you do to help?  If you are a dues-paying member of our association, you already are.  It takes resources to support our efforts, and your dues are a key component of those resources.  If you want to take your support a step further, volunteer to join any of our committees or task forces which are involved in the effort to defend the rule of law, including our Task Force on the Rule of Law.

If you are one of our friends and have not already done so, please consider becoming a dues-paying member, to take part in supporting our efforts to uphold the rule of law. 

You may not be able to change your law firm’s approach to these issues, but you can support ours.

With gratitude and hope,

Richard P. Swanson and Ronald C. Minkoff