In his first sixty days in office, President Trump has unleased a two-prong attack on the integrity of the American system of justice. First, he has targeted federal judges who have issued rulings unfavorable to the Administration. With vicious personal ad hominem attacks, he has released the personal information, including home addresses of these judge’s family members, all in an effort to intimidate them into complying with his illegal dictates. Any judge assigned to handle a case involving the Trump Administration now knows that his children or grandchildren and their families may be subjected to harassment and threats. As a result,judges who are assigned to handle cases involving the Administration may think twice before issuing a ruling adverse to the Administration’s interests. 

The threat of violence is very real.The recent tactic of sending multiple Domino’s pizzas to judicial family members sends the not-so-subtle message that we know who you are and we know where you live, and next time the person at the door may not be delivering a pizza.  In the past, I argued before the Hon. Esther Salas (DNJ) whose son was brutally murdered in a home invasion targeting Judge Salas, who was not at home at the time.  In another instance, the Hon. Richard Daronco (SDNY), a family friend, was shot dead in his front yard by a disgruntled litigant who was upset over the court’s dismissal of her complaint.  Second Circuit judge, Richard Sullivan, recently said that in his lifetime, four federal judges have been killed in retaliation for their work on the bench. “This is not hypothetical”, he cautioned. “It’s real. It’s happened before.” Today’s threats against federal judges are extremely disturbing because they are leveled, not from angry vigilantes, but by the President of the United States, the Attorney General and members of Congress.

The Trump Administration’s second prong of attack on the Rule of Law is to weaken or destroy the law firms that represent clients the Administration views as objectionable or who take positions in legal proceedings adverse to the Administration.  Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, the target of a recent executive order from President Trump, was barred from dealing with the government ,and in addition, the firm’s corporate clients were threatened with losing their government contracts if they continued to have Paul Weiss represent them.  As in the case of similar executive orders served on Perkins Coie and Covington & Burling, the White House’s express purpose is to drive significant corporate business away from Paul Weiss and, in doing so, cripple the firm financially and encourage corporate rainmakers to take their practices to less ‘controversial’ firms. Rather than fight the executive order in federal court as Perkins Coie did successfully (at least in round one), Paul Weiss agreed to commit $40 million of firm resources to work on pro bono matters that support President Trump’s political agenda.  

In Trump’s vision of the Rule of Law, not only will judges be afraid to rule against the Administration, but also the number of lawyers with sufficient courage and financial backing to bring these cases will be substantially reduced. As Michigan’s Attorney General, Dana Nessel, commented, “With this Administration, there will be no legitimate legal system and no need for actual lawyers”. 

The challenges to the Rule of Law that we, as lawyers, face today require tough decision-making by both corporate law departments and law firm leaders. The ABA condemned the Trump Administration’s efforts to undermine major law firms stating that these actions “deny clients access to justice and betray our fundamental values.” Unfortunately, few law firms and corporations facing existential threats and intimidation from the Government are willing or even able to attack these unlawful acts on their own. As Leslie Levin, a UConn law professor, observed, lawyers are supposed to stand up to the government when there is an abuse of power. If a firm like Paul Weiss, with all of its resources and talent, is unwilling to do the ‘right thing’, what message does that send to firms with less power and clout who may be targeted next?

In a quintessential domino effect, many right-minded corporate leaders who, no matter what their personal views, will feel required to act in a manner similar to Paul Weiss, in the interest of protecting shareholders and the livelihoods of corporate employees.  Whatever their rationalizations and excuses for inaction, we are witnessing a blatant effort by this Administration to destroy our system of justice, and the Rule of Law that the judiciary is sworn to protect.

Corporate America, together with our nation’s leading law firms, must unite to protect the values we believe in and to support a federal judiciary under increasing pressure to capitulate to an Administration that has repeatedly demonstrated its intention to undermine our Constitution and the system of checks and balances that has served as the cornerstone of the country’s democracy since the founding of the Republic.