Panel urges lawyers to stand firm in wake of executive orders
American Bar Association
Executive orders that have targeted law firms are having a chilling effect on pro bono work and serving the underserved, but attorneys must remember their duty to protect and defend the Constitution and the rule of law, said panelists during a recent American Bar Association webinar.
The May 29 webinar, “Under Fire: Resisting Attacks on Lawyers and the Rule of Law,” is part of the ABA’s Rule of Law in America series.
The executive orders that have put many law firms in the administration’s crosshairs have three things in common: retaliation, intimidation and an assault on the rule of law and independence of the bench, said Robert Van Nest, partner at Keker Van Nest and Peters in San Francisco.
The administration’s actions have “decimated the career workforce and driven out a lot of expertise that is essential to fulfilling the mission of the Department of Justice,” said Liz Oyer, the recently fired U.S. pardon attorney at DOJ. Oyer, who was terminated after she refused to follow a directive by the administration to restore gun rights to actor Mel Gibson without vetting him, added that the current DOJ is not interested in upholding the rule of law.
Elizabeth Cabraser, partner at Lieff Cabraser Heimann and Bernstein in San Francisco, noted the role and responsibilities of lawyers, which are especially important in the current political climate. “We are the voice for our clients, even when their viewpoints are unpopular,” she said. “We are the intermediaries between individuals and the legal system.”
Cabraser pointed out that lawyers contribute a substantial amount of time to pro bono work and the intent of the executive order is to silence the voices of those who would otherwise go unheard and who may be presenting an unpopular or inconvenient truth. While those voices may be controversial today, history will view them as “essential to protecting the rights and liberties of all of us.”
Van Nest agreed that many underserved people who don’t have the means to pay for lawyers — the poor, domestic violence victims, immigrants and others — will not be able to be represented in court.
“It falls on us to fill that gap,” Cabraser said, with most of the burden falling on smaller firms and solo practitioners.
To resist these current attacks, Van Nest urged law firms and lawyers to engage in litigation to fight the executive orders, sign on to amicus briefs and engage in pro bono work that involve everything from the environment and immigration to domestic violence and civil rights. “All of these areas need assistance and need help,” he said.
Cabraser applauded the judiciary for its efforts in fighting to save democracy and the rule of law. “The judges have truly stepped up,” she said. “They are the heroes in this campaign to save our system.”
Adam Polk, partner at Girard Sharp, moderated the program.
(https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-arch ives/2025/06/panel-urges-law yers-to-stand-firm/)
Executive orders that have targeted law firms are having a chilling effect on pro bono work and serving the underserved, but attorneys must remember their duty to protect and defend the Constitution and the rule of law, said panelists during a recent American Bar Association webinar.
The May 29 webinar, “Under Fire: Resisting Attacks on Lawyers and the Rule of Law,” is part of the ABA’s Rule of Law in America series.
The executive orders that have put many law firms in the administration’s crosshairs have three things in common: retaliation, intimidation and an assault on the rule of law and independence of the bench, said Robert Van Nest, partner at Keker Van Nest and Peters in San Francisco.
The administration’s actions have “decimated the career workforce and driven out a lot of expertise that is essential to fulfilling the mission of the Department of Justice,” said Liz Oyer, the recently fired U.S. pardon attorney at DOJ. Oyer, who was terminated after she refused to follow a directive by the administration to restore gun rights to actor Mel Gibson without vetting him, added that the current DOJ is not interested in upholding the rule of law.
Elizabeth Cabraser, partner at Lieff Cabraser Heimann and Bernstein in San Francisco, noted the role and responsibilities of lawyers, which are especially important in the current political climate. “We are the voice for our clients, even when their viewpoints are unpopular,” she said. “We are the intermediaries between individuals and the legal system.”
Cabraser pointed out that lawyers contribute a substantial amount of time to pro bono work and the intent of the executive order is to silence the voices of those who would otherwise go unheard and who may be presenting an unpopular or inconvenient truth. While those voices may be controversial today, history will view them as “essential to protecting the rights and liberties of all of us.”
Van Nest agreed that many underserved people who don’t have the means to pay for lawyers — the poor, domestic violence victims, immigrants and others — will not be able to be represented in court.
“It falls on us to fill that gap,” Cabraser said, with most of the burden falling on smaller firms and solo practitioners.
To resist these current attacks, Van Nest urged law firms and lawyers to engage in litigation to fight the executive orders, sign on to amicus briefs and engage in pro bono work that involve everything from the environment and immigration to domestic violence and civil rights. “All of these areas need assistance and need help,” he said.
Cabraser applauded the judiciary for its efforts in fighting to save democracy and the rule of law. “The judges have truly stepped up,” she said. “They are the heroes in this campaign to save our system.”
Adam Polk, partner at Girard Sharp, moderated the program.
(https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-arch ives/2025/06/panel-urges-law yers-to-stand-firm/)
Constitutional law expert says executive orders could limit access to courts
American Bar Association
Constitutional law expert Melissa Murray discussed upcoming Supreme Court decisions, President Trump’s executive orders and other pressing legal matters in a fireside chat on June 5 during the 2025 American Bar Association Equity Summit: Navigating the Future. She was joined by Wendy Shiba, chair of both the ABA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Center and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Council, which hosted the two-day virtual program.
Murray is the Frederick I. and Grace Stokes professor of law and faculty director for the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Center at the New York University Law School. She is a 2023 recipient of the ABA Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award, which honors women lawyers who have achieved professional excellence and paved the way for other women in the legal profession.
During the discussion, Murray outlined oral arguments heard last month at the Supreme Court challenging the nationwide injunctions that have stopped President Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship from going into effect. The case, she said, is broadly about the executive order but that “it is more specifically a question about whether the remedy that was used by the lower courts to stop the birthright citizenship EO — the universal injunction, the nationwide injunction — whether that remedy is permissible and something that Article III judges can invoke against the administration.”
The decision could “limit the force of the universal injunction, which will make it harder for individuals to challenge the spate of EOs that are already in the ether and that are likely coming from this administration,” Murray said.
“If we tinker with the nationwide injunction, if we limit the nationwide injunction, we are really going to be hamstringing courts,” Murray said.
Similarly, the Trump administration already has constrained the availability of legal resources “by going after nonprofits or by getting law firms to capitulate,” Murray said. “We don’t have enough legal resources right now to launch that kind of challenge to administration policies because there just aren’t that many lawyers available to do this kind of work pro bono.”
The summit brought together legal professionals, scholars and advocates to explore solutions to today’s most pressing social, legal and ethical challenges.
ABA President William R. Bay welcomed participants on the first day of the summit, reiterating that the ABA “will not retreat” from its work to support diversity, equity and inclusion in the association and the profession.
In the opening program, “Adapting Racial Justice Work in a Shifting Environment,” Matthew S. Manning, partner with Webb, Cason & Manning LLC in Corpus Christi, Texas, said “this is the time to stand up” to executive orders and other challenges to the legal profession and the clients they represent.
Other panel presentations included “Under Attack: Protecting Trans Communities in a Hostile Landscape”; “Navigating AI’s Challenges: Equity, Ethics and Impact (Ethics)”; and “Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice: Seeking Continued Equity.”
(https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/ 2025/06/melissa-murray-aba-equi ty-summit/)
Constitutional law expert Melissa Murray discussed upcoming Supreme Court decisions, President Trump’s executive orders and other pressing legal matters in a fireside chat on June 5 during the 2025 American Bar Association Equity Summit: Navigating the Future. She was joined by Wendy Shiba, chair of both the ABA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Center and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Council, which hosted the two-day virtual program.
Murray is the Frederick I. and Grace Stokes professor of law and faculty director for the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Center at the New York University Law School. She is a 2023 recipient of the ABA Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award, which honors women lawyers who have achieved professional excellence and paved the way for other women in the legal profession.
During the discussion, Murray outlined oral arguments heard last month at the Supreme Court challenging the nationwide injunctions that have stopped President Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship from going into effect. The case, she said, is broadly about the executive order but that “it is more specifically a question about whether the remedy that was used by the lower courts to stop the birthright citizenship EO — the universal injunction, the nationwide injunction — whether that remedy is permissible and something that Article III judges can invoke against the administration.”
The decision could “limit the force of the universal injunction, which will make it harder for individuals to challenge the spate of EOs that are already in the ether and that are likely coming from this administration,” Murray said.
“If we tinker with the nationwide injunction, if we limit the nationwide injunction, we are really going to be hamstringing courts,” Murray said.
Similarly, the Trump administration already has constrained the availability of legal resources “by going after nonprofits or by getting law firms to capitulate,” Murray said. “We don’t have enough legal resources right now to launch that kind of challenge to administration policies because there just aren’t that many lawyers available to do this kind of work pro bono.”
The summit brought together legal professionals, scholars and advocates to explore solutions to today’s most pressing social, legal and ethical challenges.
ABA President William R. Bay welcomed participants on the first day of the summit, reiterating that the ABA “will not retreat” from its work to support diversity, equity and inclusion in the association and the profession.
In the opening program, “Adapting Racial Justice Work in a Shifting Environment,” Matthew S. Manning, partner with Webb, Cason & Manning LLC in Corpus Christi, Texas, said “this is the time to stand up” to executive orders and other challenges to the legal profession and the clients they represent.
Other panel presentations included “Under Attack: Protecting Trans Communities in a Hostile Landscape”; “Navigating AI’s Challenges: Equity, Ethics and Impact (Ethics)”; and “Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice: Seeking Continued Equity.”
(https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/ 2025/06/melissa-murray-aba-equi ty-summit/)
