Former Judges Blast State Bar Association For Cowering From Trump

Multiple Biglaw firms agreed to deputize themselves to the federal government to avoid executive orders that everyone knew were illegal, the DOJ’s making up fake quotes in its briefing, and Marines are preparing to arrest people on American soil. Add in a barrage of insults leveled at federal judges — including his own nominees — for daring to put the Constitution over patronage and you’ve got a troubling series of assaults on the rule of law.

That’s why many bar associations, as the professional guilds charged with safeguarding the sanctity of the legal system, joined together to denounce these actions. Bar associations aren’t trying to be political, but when the rule of law becomes a matter of partisan politics, the bar has to rise to the occasion.

We covered all this in the recent DC Bar election where Pam Bondi’s brother got hammered because he kept pitching an apolitical bar association in a world where the bedrock mission of the bar is now political.

In the face of all this, the Wisconsin State Bar opted to do… absolutely nothing. That’s not sitting well with a lot of its 25,000 or so members. But John Markson and Richard Niess, a pair of former Wisconsin judges, point out that the state bar’s leadership hasn’t just been asleep at the switch. They held a secret vote on the prospect of showing backbone and voted to do nothing.

On May 22, we were informed by a single member of the Wisconsin State Bar board of governors that the board met in closed session May 14, and “following extensive discussion protected by the attorney-client privilege, the Board voted to make no statement concerning recent actions taken by the Executive Branch of the federal government.”

There’s no obvious reason why this subject should be a state bar secret and when the judges asked several board members about the vote, they didn’t get any further justification. They did learn that the existing board took covering up its own cowardice so seriously that incoming board members will be barred from learning about the vote unless they take a vow of silence.

You’re not planning D-Day, you’re running a bar association.

We have since asked 12 representatives on the board several questions about what happened in secret and why. Only three replied, but they provided little information. We still don’t know: (1) why the question was taken up in closed session, (2) why State Bar leaders needed legal counsel to advise whether the Bar should issue a statement supporting the rule of law, (3) what was discussed, (4) why no statement was issued, and (5) what was the final vote. 

The only possible justification for keeping a lid on the mere fact that the bar considered taking a stand is so the group can further minimize the risk of retaliation by acting like they never even considered doing anything. And if that’s the case, it sort of proves the point that the administration is a threat to the rule of law requiring a strong response.

Thus, the State Bar’s cowering non-response bodes ill for the rule of law in Wisconsin. As the American Bar Association stated: “If the lawyers do not speak…who will protect the bedrock of justice?”

In the words of Homer Simpson, “I dunno… Coast Guard?“

Wisconsin State Bar leadership betrays the rule of law [Wisconsin Examiner]

Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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