BBA Joins Nationwide Coalition to Defend Independence of the Bar in Amicus Brief
Letter or StatementToday, the BBA joined 15 other bar associations in filing an amicus brief in support of Perkins Coie’s challenge to a presidential executive order targeting the firm which, the brief argues, “threaten[s] to turn the Bar into an instrument of the executive branch.”
The brief, coordinated by the New York City Bar Association and drafted by Harvard Law School professor Jeannie Suk Gersen and the Protect Democracy Project, asks the US District Court for the District of Columbia to grant summary judgment for the firm and enjoin the order.
“The BBA will continue to stand with all firms singled out by the administration, as we defend the legal community and the rule of law as a whole from assault,” said BBA President Matthew V.P. McTygue. “This is because we understand, as our founder John Adams did, that the right to petition for redress of grievances is at the core of any democracy.”
The brief makes a forceful case for the essential role of an independent bar in safeguarding the checks and balances that have sustained American democracy and the rule of law for nearly 250 years. Drawing on examples from regimes that have bent the legal profession to serve those in power, the brief illustrates the real and dangerous consequences when lawyers are no longer free to represent clients without fear of political retribution.
“Any act that chips away at the bar’s independence necessarily undermines the liberty of a free people,” said McTygue. “I am proud of the bar for coming together to oppose the administration’s effort to intimidate the legal profession.”
READ THE MOTION OF BAR ASSOCIATIONS FOR LEAVE TO FILE AMICI CURIAE BRIEF
