68 UVA Law Professors Band Together To Speak Up For The Rule Of Law

In the face of Donald Trump’s facially unconstitutional retaliatory executive orders, we’ve been seeing a lot of folding from Biglaw: Paul Weiss, Skadden, Willkie, Milbank, and potentially Kirkland. But as you might expect, professors who care about being on the right side of history are doing a much better job of standing on principle than businessmen who are willing to sacrifice the rule of law for their bottom line. Law professors at the University of Virginia School of Law banded together to speak out against the Trump administration’s strong arming:

Like professors at other law schools, we are concerned by the recent federal executive orders that appear to target law firms and individual lawyers for retribution based either on the President’s grievances or on lawful and ethical representation of clients disfavored by the current administration. In the words of the preamble to the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, “An independent legal profession is an important force in preserving government under law, for abuse of legal authority is more readily challenged by a profession whose members are not dependent on government for the right to practice.”

The statement doesn’t come out swinging as hard as the 363-professor amicus brief, but the bravery it takes for professors to stand up for the rule of law despite the risk of backlash is still commendable. As Justice Sonia Sotomayor warned, law schools have a role to play in upholding the legal norms that make the rule of law possible — you can take a little comfort in knowing that so many of the faculty at UVA Law are doing their part to fight for them.

You can read the entire statement on the next page.

Earlier: Several Hundred Law Professors File Amicus Brief Against Trump’s Attacks On Biglaw

Justice Sotomayor’s Optimism For The Rule of Law Under Trump Only Lasted A Month

The American Constitution Society Calls On Quiet Law School Deans To Speak Up

Thousands Of Lawyers Sign Open Letter To Defend The Rule Of Law From Executive Attack

Over 50 Bar Organizations Stand Up For The Rule Of Law

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™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He 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, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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