American Bar Assoc ABA

pjt 2025 TARGET MIZELLE primary 4 25

SEE MODERATION NORMS LEGAL RULE OF LAW

see disbar ~ doj3

SEE DISBAR ABA DISCIPLINARY ETHICS ED FUCKING MARTIN 3 26 BONDI BRO?

6 25 state bar eg florida

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The Justice Department has subpoenaed 14 major law firms for records about their communications tied to President Donald Trump’s executive orders.

The State reported Monday that the Trump administration is escalating its fight with major law firms by using Justice Department subpoenas to demand records. The move is part of an ongoing lawsuit from the American Bar Association, which alleges the administration has been trying to punish law firms for their past legal work, diversity efforts and political relationships.

Trump issued an executive order in early 2025 targeting more than five law firms with connections to investigations into Trump. Three of those firms sued civilly, alleging it was retribution. Some of Trump's biggest legal foes worked for the firms, so Trump targeted them, specifically naming the lawyers in the orders.

The broader suit comes from the American Bar Association, which alleges the administration used its authority to restrict things like access to federal buildings and security clearances and, in some cases, could hurt its clients’ government work.

Four of those firms that challenged the order in court have been successful, but some big firms agreed to hand over millions in free legal work. The ABA lawsuit wants a judge to declare the entire policy moot and prevent it from moving forward. The firms that were willing to settle with Trump could be put in an awkward position as a result.

Among the many concerns the ABA cites, it said firms may stop taking certain clients or cases because they fear retaliation.

One of the details in the subpoenas deals with longtime Trump advisor Boris Epshteyn, who doesn't work for the White House, but has reportedly been seen with the rest of the White House staff. Epshteyn appears to have been a go-between in dealmaking with the law firms that settled, reported the *New York Times*. The DOJ is demanding records of communications between the firms and Epshteyn and the ABA is now saying that they too want to see them.

Those communications could show the way that the bargains were made, what the White House wanted, and whether the arrangements were part of a broader pressure campaign. The Justice Department is trying to keep those communications under wraps, which suggests they’re central to the dispute. But since Epshteyn isn't a government employee, it will be difficult to invoke executive privilege or any of the other protections that a president can use.

Ultimately, the law firms want to find out what the pressure campaign looked like behind the scenes and whether it used power to intimidate or manipulate the law firms.

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SEE DISBAR ABA DISCIPLINARY ETHICS ED FUCKING MARTIN 3 26

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Outgoing "weaponization" chief Ed Martin was supposed to have left the Justice Department sometime in February after Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche "made moves to significantly limit Martin’s ability to wield power," CNN reported at the time. Now, Martin is facing an ethics investigation.

"On his way out the door from the U.S. attorney's office, [Martin] announced to his entire staff that he was under investigation by the D.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel without elaborating on the details, CBS News reported Tuesday. According to the report, Martin is facing ethics charges after he sent a letter to the Georgetown University Law Center alleging that a whistleblower reported them for teaching "diversity, equity, and inclusion."

Martin's Feb. 17, 2025, letter made the allegations, but before he heard a response, he said he would impose sanctions on Georgetown by telling his staff not to hire any students from the school.

Now-former dean, William Treanor, responded in a letter challenging Martin's Catholic faith, saying it was "an attack on the University's mission as a Jesuit and Catholic institution."

A filing revealed Tuesday shows Disciplinary Counsel Hamilton "Phil" Fox III of the D.C. Bar alleged on Friday that while working for the federal government, Martin violated the First and Fifth Amendments with his letter. "Mr. Martin knew or should have known" that.

"Acting in his official capacity and speaking on behalf of the government, he used coercion to punish or suppress a disfavored viewpoint, the teaching and promotion of DEI," the court filing says. "He demanded that Georgetown Law relinquish its free speech and religious rights in order to obtain a benefit, employment opportunities for its students."

The filing goes on to say that Martin replied to the exchange, "stating that he would not be responding to Disciplinary Counsel’s inquiry, complained about Disciplinary Counsel’s 'uneven behavior' and requested a 'face-to-face meeting with all of you to discuss this matter and find a way forward.' He copied the White House Counsel 'for informational purposes because of the importance of getting this issue addressed.'"

Technology lawyer Kendra Albert mocked on BlueSky that Martin's comments in count two had "I want to speak to your manager" energy.

Lawfare's senior editor, Roger Parloff, called the comments from Martin, "very Ed Martin-y." He noted that after the D.C. Bar Association began its inquiry, "Martin [wrote] Chief Judge of D.C. Court of Appeals three times." He was warned not to on two occasions and did so anyway.

The first letter was sent to the judge ex parte, meaning it did not inform the opposing counsel.

Slate legal analyst Mark Joseph Stern suggested this is one of many reasons Attorney General Pam Bondi is going after state Bar Associations for filing ethics complaints.

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fedsoc

PRACTICE GROUPS ~ CAMPAIGn FINAnce reform

https://fedsoc.org/practice-groups/free-speech-practice-group

Election Law Practice Group

eg omg

Moving Away from ABA Accreditation?

Speakers:

Michael S. McGinniss •Derek T. Muller •Daniel B. Rodriguez •Daniel R. Thies

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OMG

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Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance is disputing a Wednesday claim by President Donald Trump's administration that it can sideline investigations by Bar Associations around the country.

According to Bloomberg Law, the Justice Department is working to "suspend stat bar ethics investigations" targeting DOJ lawyers. The DOJ has clashed with judges across the U.S. and judgment, behavior and legal violations have prompted complaints to state Bar Associations as a result.

According to the proposal, which was posted in the Federal Register on Wednesday, the DOJ wants to do its own internal review of the lawyers rather than the regulatory association. Critics see it as diminishing the power of the Bar Associations as a whole.

Commenting on the report on X, Vance called it "bunk."

"State bars license attorneys and consider misconduct allegations. Historically, state bars have deferred to DOJ‘s internal discipline process as a courtesy, but they are not obligated to, and the AG has zero authority to suspend state bar operations," Vance said about Attorney General Pam Bondi.

"DOJ can’t avoid investigation and incredible allegations of clear, ethical violations, like lying to or misleading judges and failing to follow court orders if state bars want to pursue them," Vance added. "The process is usually long and involves wrist slaps instead of jumping straight to disbarment, but egregious cases deserve serious discipline."

University of Michigan Law School Professor Barbara McQuade agreed.

"All DOJ lawyers are members of a state or DC bar, and subject to its ethics rules and penalties, up to disbarment. Subverting state bar authorities would give DOJ lawyers carte blanche to violate ethics rules," she said about the report.

Self-described "recovering lawyer" Jeff Jacobs commented, "You would think that, given the ethical implications of many of the actions by this DOJ and its state-licensed attorneys, the administration would go out of its way to avoid antagonizing state bar associations."

In January, the Texas Supreme Court ended the 42-year reliance on the American Bar Association for law school accreditation because the ABA has diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) requirements. Florida has now done the same. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) has proposed his own accreditor for Florida law schools instead.

If Bondi's proposal moves forward after a public comment period, “whenever a third party files a bar complaint alleging that a current or former Department attorney violated an ethics rule while engaging in that attorney’s duties for the Department, or whenever bar disciplinary authorities open an investigation into such allegations,” the attorney general “will have the right to review the complaint and the allegations in the first instance,” it states.

Bondi is calling ethics probes into attorneys at the DOJ part of an anti-Trump "weaponization" effort.

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Political scientist Austin Sarat on Wednesday warned that

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President Donald Trump is crossing “a dangerous line” by attacking the Supreme Court for overturning his controversial tariffs, according to America’s most distinguished organization of lawyers.

“The recent remarks by the president of the United States, leveling personal criticisms against members of the U.S. Supreme Court, are not acceptable and cross a dangerous line that threatens the safety of the judiciary and our judicial process,” declared American Bar Association (ABA) President Michelle A. Behnke in a statement.

“Vigorous debate over policy is a strength of our democracy, but attacks that demean the judiciary are not,” Behnke added. “Incendiary rhetoric has helped contribute to the alarming increase in attacks on and threats to our judges. It must stop.”

The ABA head is referring to Trump’s criticism of the six Supreme Court justices who ruled against his emergency tariff authority, including two jurists — Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett — that Trump himself appointed. Deriding them as “fools and lapdogs for the RINOs and the radical left Democrats,” Trump said Gorsuch and Barrett are “an embarrassment to their families. You want to know the truth, the two of them.” He also said the liberal justices were loyal to the Democrats, which he admired, but added that he believes they are a “disgrace to our nation.” The president also claimed those judges were motivated by foreign powers, although did not provide evidence for this assertion.

“Personal attacks against individual justices, particularly allegations that they are influenced by ‘foreign interests,’ are wholly inappropriate,” Behnke criticized Trump in that statement. “Such statements risk undermining the rule of law and the public’s faith in an impartial judiciary, foundational pillars of our democracy that have guided our nation since its founding.”

She added, “The men and women of the Supreme Court, regardless of who appointed them, deserve respect for exercising their duty to interpret the Constitution faithfully and independently. The health of our constitutional system depends on maintaining that independence, free from political intimidation or retribution.”

Perhaps anticipating Trump’s lashing out, Gorsuch explained in his opinion that the president’s seeming desire to bypass the legislature to more effectively achieve his policy goals is dangerous to the American system of government.

“Yes, legislating can be hard and take time,” Gorsuch said. “And yes, it can be tempting to bypass Congress when some pressing problem arises. But the deliberative nature of the legislative process was the whole point of its design. Through that process, the nation can tap the combined wisdom of the people’s elected representatives, not just that of one faction or man.”

In addition to the ABA, one of the most prominent Republicans currently holding elected office also criticized Trump for his words about the Supreme Court. Former Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), who told Trump in a statement that "Congress is not an inconvenience to avoid." The conservative publication The Wall Street Journal similarly argued that Trump’s language was “ugly,” adding that “this is the same Court that ruled Mr. Trump’s way on presidential immunity, which was more personally consequential for this President.”

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Over 70 legal experts and a trio of organizations have sent the Florida Bar an ethics complaint calling for an investigation and "appropriate sanctions" against U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, accusing her of engaging in "serious professional misconduct that threatens the rule of law and the administration of justice."

The 23-page complaint, filed Thursday, is signed by Democracy Defenders Fund, Lawyers Defending American Democracy, Lawyers for the Rule of Law, and individual attorneys, law professors, and former judges. It was first reported by the Miami Herald.

"We file this complaint recognizing that Ms. Bondi currently serves as the attorney general of the United States, the highest-ranking lawyer in the United States government," the coalition wrote. "Indeed, we bring Ms. Bondi's misconduct to your attention precisely because Ms. Bondi holds this exalted position, with the attendant responsibilities for subordinate lawyers under her authority who carry out her directives, and because the complaint highlights for the entire legal profession the importance of ethical rules to our independent, self-regulating profession."

"Ms. Bondi, personally and through her senior management, has sought to compel Department of Justice lawyers to violate their ethical obligations under the guise of 'zealous advocacy.'"

After former Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration to lead the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) last November, then-President-elect Donald Trump swiftly announced Bondi as his new pick. Senate Republicans and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) confirmed her in February, despite various concerns, including her lobbyist work for corporate giants.

IFrame Content

On Bondi's first day, she moved to dissolve teams that probed foreign lobbying and threats posed by corporate misconduct, revive enforcement of the federal death penalty, investigate DOJ officials who prosecuted Trump, defund sanctuary cities, and end diversity, equity, and inclusion policies and programs. She also issued a memorandum highlighted in the new complaint.

"The gravamen of this complaint is that Ms. Bondi, personally and through her senior management, has sought to compel Department of Justice lawyers to violate their ethical obligations under the guise of 'zealous advocacy' as announced in her memorandum to all Department employees, issued on her first day in office, threatening employees with discipline and possible termination for falling short," the filing states.

The complaint details "three glaring examples of department lawyers being terminated or forced to resign as a result of demands that they act unethically issued by Ms. Bondi or a member of her senior management, including Emil Bove, initially the acting deputy attorney general (the No. 2 position in the department) and now the principal associate deputy attorney general (the No. 3 position); Todd Blanche, the current deputy attorney general; and Edward Martin, then interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and now chief of the Justice Department's 'Weaponization Working Group' and the department's pardon attorney."

"Through her 'zealous advocacy' memorandum and its application in these three cases, Ms. Bondi has sent a message to all Justice Department lawyers that they must disregard the applicable rules of professional conduct, fundamental ethical principles, and long-standing norms of the Department in order to zealously pursue the president's political objectives—and, if they fail to do so, they will be disciplined or fired," the filing adds. "However, as Ms. Bondi and her senior staff are fond of saying, no one is above the law, and this includes Ms. Bondi."

The Florida Bar confirmed receipt of the complaint to the Miami Herald but did not comment further. The coalition noted that "we file this complaint notwithstanding the Florida Bar's recent reply to two previous ethics complaints filed against Ms. Bondi that it 'does not investigate or prosecute sitting officers appointed under the U.S. Constitution while they are in office.'"

"The purported rationale for declining to investigate or prosecute is that such action 'could encroach on the authority of the federal government concerning these officials and the exercise of their duties,'" the coalition continued. "The Florida Bar's dismissal is unsupported by history or precedent."

Chad Mizelle, DOJ chief of staff, suggested in a statement to the Miami Herald that the new call for a probe of Bondi will be unsuccessful, like the previous submissions.

"The Florida Bar has twice rejected performative attempts by these out-of-state lawyers to weaponize the bar complaint process against AG Bondi," said Mizelle. "This third vexatious attempt will fail to do anything other than prove that the signatories have less intelligence—and independent thoughts—than sheep."

Meanwhile, Norm Eisen, executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund, said in a statement that "since her first day on the job, Pam Bondi has made clear that she plans to use the Department of Justice for political pursuits, and she has done just that."

"Especially as the nation’s highest ranking legal officer," Eisen added, "she must be held to account for her actions that threaten the rule of law and the administration of justice."

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tenn star BS

Katelynn Richardson

Newly-appointed head of the Department of Justice (DOJ) Weaponization Working Group Ed Martin revealed Thursday that he may spend time looking into bar associations for targeting conservative attorneys.

Martin, who says he is being targeted by the D.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel, told the Daily Caller News Foundation he wants to expose the “weaponization of the bar associations against lawyers.”

“The bar associations exist with a sort of monopoly, but they also exist at the discretion of the courts,” he said, noting they mostly target conservatives. “I’ve seen the impact on the legal system, not only advocates like myself who are targeted, but rank and file prosecutors who are abused by the system because the left wants to have sort of lawlessness.”

James Phalen, executive attorney of the D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility, told the DCNF that “any matters involving allegations of disciplinary misconduct are confidential unless and until Disciplinary Council brings charges.”

Disciplinary counsel Hamilton Fox also told the DCNF that investigations are confidential until formal charges are brought.

Martin revealed in a going-away email to staff that he was under an ethics investigation by the D.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel, Reuters reported Wednesday.

Democratic lawmakers requested an investigation into Martin in March for allegedly abusing his position as interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, accusing him of “dismissing charges against his own client and using the threat of prosecution to intimidate government employees and chill the speech of private citizens.” The office previously declined in February to address a prior complaint against Martin for dismissing charges against a Jan. 6 defendant he previously represented.

“Most bar associations, state and national, are 501(c)(3) organizations,” he told the DCNF, noting that status comes with certain benefits. “If they’re not living up to what they should be, they’ll have to face scrutiny. And also, part of it is just the name and shame.”

There are hundreds of bar associations in the United States.

Other conservative attorneys, like John Eastman in California, have faced disciplinary proceedings from the bar.

Martin said the D.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel is “completely hypocritical” about how it does its job.

“It’s one thing for liberals, another thing for conservatives, confidentiality for themselves, and yet, somebody like me, I had a complaint against me, they exposed my confidential, the confidentiality of the bar complaint, and exposed it to random people in my work environment.”

The DOJ implemented a policy in April placing restrictions on its attorneys participation in American Bar Association (ABA) events.

“The ABA is free to litigate in support of activist causes, including by inserting itself into pending litigation as an amicus curiae,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote in the memo. “The Department of Justice must, consistent with the Constitution, be careful stewards of the public fisc, represent all Americans regardless of ideology or political preferences, and defend the policies chosen by America’s democratically elected leadership-as reflected in Congressionally enacted statutes and Presidential policy choices.”

A judge blocked the DOJ’s effort to cancel $3.2 million in grants to the ABA on Wednesday.

“Part of it is the monopoly that bar associations maintain over the practice of law may have to change,” Martin said.

Katelynn Richardson is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.

Photo “Ed Martin” by The Right Men’s Club.*

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Trump allies launch a bid to take control of the D.C. Bar Association

archiescom - March 8, 2025

WASHINGTON — Two of President Donald Trump’s allies have launched bids for leadership roles with the D.C. Bar Association, an under-the-radar effort that would give them more control over the influential legal group.

The push comes amid bar associations’ confrontations with the Trump administration, and some federal attorneys have looked to their state groups for ethical guidance amid Trump’s rapid reshaping of government.

Bradley Bondi — a lawyer who is Attorney General Pam Bondi’s brother — and Alicia Long — a deputy to Ed Martin, Trump’s interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia — are running for president and treasurer. The election runs from April to June, according to the organization’s website.

While the general public may not pay much attention to bar associations, lawyers do. The nongovernmental groups decide who gets to be a lawyer — and who gets to stay a lawyer when misconduct allegations are involved. The D.C. Bar, as it is known, has more than 120,000 members, and, by virtue of its location, it is where a significant number of federal attorneys are licensed.

The effort to take control of the D.C. Bar follows warnings Trump administration officials have directed at bar associations, which lawyers inside and outside the government have suggested could play a role in slowing down legally questionable elements of Trump’s agenda.

On one of her first days as attorney general, Pam Bondi warned career lawyers that they could be fired for refusing to carry out orders because of any personal objections. Meanwhile, the D.C. Bar maintains a confidential legal ethics hotline for members to submit concerns.

In a statement to NBC News after this article published, Bondi pledged to protect the D.C. Bar from being politicized and noted that he has been an active member of the organization for 26 years.

“The Bar has a non-partisan mission, which I intend to vigilantly protect against any push to politicize it,” he said.

“My effort to run for DC Bar president began months before the federal elections and has no connection with national politics at all. With my six years of DC Bar leadership — having been elected two times to a Bar leadership position — three years in public service, and over 20 years in private practice and as a law professor, my record of serving the legal community with that integrity is plain to see,” he added.

Bondi also said he wants to focus on “efficiency and practical benefits,” including “free on-demand continuing legal education for all 50 states” and more educational programs and pro-bono opportunities.

“This isn’t about politics; I’m running to help strengthen our profession and support members of the Bar no matter what their beliefs or backgrounds,” he said.

Bondi and Long each face one opponent. If elected, they would join the professional organization’s 23-person Board of Governors. Though the D.C. Bar does not have a direct role in disciplining lawyers for misconduct, its board does recommend members to sit on the D.C. Board of Professional Responsibility, the disciplinary arm of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

Disciplinary cases are brought forward by a separate Office of Disciplinary Counsel, which investigates and prosecutes ethical complaints against lawyers.

With Republicans in control of the House and the Senate, bar discipline could be one of the last remaining ways to hold Trump-appointed attorneys accountable. On Thursday, a group of Democratic senators wrote a letter to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel expressing “grave concerns” about some of the highly unusual steps Martin has taken since he became interim U.S. attorney. The letter accused him of “serious violations of professional conduct” and abusing his position. Martin did not respond to requests for comment.

Some Trump attorneys have faced sanctions in Washington for their actions. Rudy Giuliani was disbarred in Washington last year in the wake of his efforts to overturn Trump’s 2020 presidential election loss; a committee of the Board on Professional Responsibility found that what it called his “utter disregard for facts denigrates the legal profession.”

Jeffrey Clark — a former Justice Department lawyer whom Trump tried to make attorney general in the days before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack — appeared before the D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility last year and invoked the Fifth Amendment. A panel made a preliminary determination that he had committed an ethical violation and recommended in August that he be suspended from practicing law for two years. With Trump back in the White House, Clark is now acting administrator of the White House Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

And a Republican report issued in December by Rep. Barry Loudermilk, of Georgia, alleged possible coordination between House Jan. 6 investigators and the D.C. Bar to target an attorney who represented a former Trump White House aide. (The Office of Disciplinary Counsel dismissed that complaint last year.)

Bondi’s and Long’s bids quickly caused some alarm among attorneys in Washington. An email seen by NBC News and sent to dozens of Washington-area lawyers — and also shared on social media — described the duo as “Trump/Pam Bondi loyalists” who were “making a bid to take over the DC Bar” and encouraged recipients to pay attention and vote.

An attorney at a federal agency said the pro-Trump effort to win leadership positions at the D.C. Bar suggests the administration “may be getting pushback internally” from lawyers who are concerned about potential professional consequences for carrying out Trump’s agenda.

“They know this is a potential weakness,” this person added.

Bondi and Long did not respond to requests for comment. NBC News has reached out to the D.C. Bar for comment.

Bondi’s opponent, Diane A. Seltzer, an attorney with a focus on employment law who already serves on the D.C. Bar’s Board of Governors, said she decided to run because she saw it as the culmination of decades of bar leadership experience at a critical time in history.

“I want to be able to support the members of our bar in this time of governmental chaos,” she said. “Our legal system needs a bar that understands and sees them and can support them in ways that will be helpful and keep everyone’s energy up and keep people from giving up or burning out.”

The D.C. Bar does not control the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, but anyone can submit a complaint there, which is then heard by the Board of Professional Responsibility. The D.C. Bar seeks candidates for the Board of Professional Responsibility, but the D.C. Court of Appeals ultimately chooses the candidates.

There are fears among some Washington lawyers, however, that with Trump-supporting officials in place, the D.C. Bar might choose to ignore Court of Appeals rulings or orders from the Office of Disciplinary Counsel.

“I would never want to be president of a bar that could do that or that would do that,” Seltzer said. “I wouldn’t want to be president of a bar where those lines could be blurred and we would say, ‘I am not going to follow what the Court of Appeals has decided or what the Office of Disciplinary Counsel has ordered.’”

The disciplinary process can be protracted. Jennifer Kerkhoff Muyskens — a former assistant U.S. attorney in Washington who led the aggressive prosecution of anti-Trump protesters arrested en masse during Trump’s first inauguration in 2017 — is only now facing a disciplinary hearing eight years later, accused of hiding exculpatory evidence from defendants.

The Trump administration has had a contentious relationship with bar associations, and Republicans have long accused them of having a left-wing bent — tensions that reached a boiling point in Trump’s first term when the American Bar Association, the national bar organization, rated several of his judicial picks as “not qualified” for the jobs they were nominated for.

Project 2025 took aim at the American Bar Association in its policy road map for a future conservative administration, calling for the president to issue an executive order pursuing antitrust measures against it. In one of his first moves as president, Trump signed an executive order that said bar associations could be targeted for investigations over their diversity programs.

Last month, the American Bar Association lambasted what it described as the Trump administration’s “wide-scale affronts to the rule of law itself.” After billionaire Elon Musk, who is overseeing Trump’s effort to reshape government, called for judges who have ruled against Trump to be impeached, the ABA said in a new statement Tuesday that it would “not stay silent in the face of efforts to remake the legal profession into something that rewards those who agree with the government and punishes those who do not.” It added that such attempts at intimidation “cannot be sanctioned or normalized.”

On Wednesday, Chad Mizelle, the Justice Department’s chief of staff, punched back at the ABA, posting to X that “they disguise their advocacy as work to ‘promote the best quality legal education, competence, ethical conduct and professionalism, and pro bono and public service work in the legal profession,’ but they never mention that they also work hand-in-hand on left-wing causes.”

He also wrote that the bar association’s “dedication to left-wing activism undermines justice” and that under the attorney general’s “leadership, DOJ is carrying out President Trump’s executive orders putting an end to radical DEI programs, and we’re all over the ABA’s illegal and immoral diversity mandates for law school accreditation.”

In 2020, the ABA rated Mizelle’s wife, Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, as “not qualified” to serve as a U.S. district court judge in Florida. She was 33 at the time and the youngest person Trump had tapped for the lifetime appointment. She was confirmed to the seat in November 2020.

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Allan Smith and Ryan J. Reilly

While the general public may not pay much attention to bar associations, lawyers do. The nongovernmental groups decide who gets to be a lawyer — and who gets to stay a lawyer when misconduct allegations are involved. The D.C. Bar, as it is known, has more than 120,000 members, and, by virtue of its location, it is where a significant number of federal attorneys are licensed.

The effort to take control of the D.C. Bar follows warnings Trump administration officials have directed at bar associations, which lawyers inside and outside the government have suggested could play a role in slowing down legally questionable elements of Trump’s agenda.

In a statement to NBC News after this article published, Bondi pledged to protect the D.C. Bar from being politicized and noted that he has been an active member of the organization for 26 years.

"The Bar has a non-partisan mission, which I intend to vigilantly protect against any push to politicize it," he said.

"My effort to run for DC Bar president began months before the federal elections and has no connection with national politics at all. With my six years of DC Bar leadership — having been elected two times to a Bar leadership position — three years in public service, and over 20 years in private practice and as a law professor, my record of serving the legal community with that integrity is plain to see," he added.

Bondi also said he wants to focus on "efficiency and practical benefits," including "free on-demand continuing legal education for all 50 states" and more educational programs and pro-bono opportunities.

"This isn’t about politics; I’m running to help strengthen our profession and support members of the Bar no matter what their beliefs or backgrounds," he said.

Bondi and Long each face one opponent. If elected, they would join the professional organization’s 23-person Board of Governors. Though the D.C. Bar does not have a direct role in disciplining lawyers for misconduct, its board does recommend members to sit on the D.C. Board of Professional Responsibility, the disciplinary arm of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

Disciplinary cases are brought forward by a separate Office of Disciplinary Counsel, which investigates and prosecutes ethical complaints against lawyers.

With Republicans in control of the House and the Senate, bar discipline could be one of the last remaining ways to hold Trump-appointed attorneys accountable. On Thursday, a group of Democratic senators wrote a letter to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel expressing “grave concerns” about some of the highly unusual steps Martin has taken since he became interim U.S. attorney. The letter accused him of “serious violations of professional conduct” and abusing his position. Martin did not respond to requests for comment.

Jeffrey Clark — a former Justice Department lawyer whom Trump tried to make attorney general in the days before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack — appeared before the D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility last year and invoked the Fifth Amendment. A panel made a preliminary determination that he had committed an ethical violation and recommended in August that he be suspended from practicing law for two years. With Trump back in the White House, Clark is now acting administrator of the White House Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

Trump administrationTrump signs order to gut Voice of America, other agencies

Bondi’s and Long’s bids quickly caused some alarm among attorneys in Washington. An email seen by NBC News and sent to dozens of Washington-area lawyers — and also shared on social media — described the duo as “Trump/Pam Bondi loyalists” who were “making a bid to take over the DC Bar” and encouraged recipients to pay attention and vote.

“They know this is a potential weakness,” this person added.

Bondi and Long did not respond to requests for comment. NBC News has reached out to the D.C. Bar for comment.

Bondi’s opponent, Diane A. Seltzer, an attorney with a focus on employment law who already serves on the D.C. Bar’s Board of Governors, said she decided to run because she saw it as the culmination of decades of bar leadership experience at a critical time in history.

IFrame Content

Project 2025 took aim at the American Bar Association in its policy road map for a future conservative administration, calling for the president to issue an executive order pursuing antitrust measures against it. In one of his first moves as president, Trump signed an executive order that said bar associations could be targeted for investigations over their diversity programs.

Last month, the American Bar Association lambasted what it described as the Trump administration’s “wide-scale affronts to the rule of law itself.” After billionaire Elon Musk, who is overseeing Trump’s effort to reshape government, called for judges who have ruled against Trump to be impeached, the ABA said in a new statement Tuesday that it would “not stay silent in the face of efforts to remake the legal profession into something that rewards those who agree with the government and punishes those who do not.” It added that such attempts at intimidation “cannot be sanctioned or normalized.”

On Wednesday, Chad Mizelle, the Justice Department’s chief of staff, punched back at the ABA, posting to X that “they disguise their advocacy as work to ‘promote the best quality legal education, competence, ethical conduct and professionalism, and pro bono and public service work in the legal profession,’ but they never mention that they also work hand-in-hand on left-wing causes.”

He also wrote that the bar association’s “dedication to left-wing activism undermines justice” and that under the attorney general’s “leadership, DOJ is carrying out President Trump’s executive orders putting an end to radical DEI programs, and we’re all over the ABA’s illegal and immoral diversity mandates for law school accreditation.”

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THIS WEEK, Mitch McConnell is bringing the Senate back in session ... no, it's not to pass emergency coronavirus relief ... it's to ram through the confirmation of some of Trump's most unfit judicial nominees yet!

Justin Walker -- a Brett Kavanaugh protégé who not only is a right-wing extremist, but also severely lacks experience and has been rated "not qualified" by the American Bar Association (ABA)-- will be considered by the Judiciary Committee in a matter of days for his nomination to the powerful DC Circuit Court of Appeals. ALL senators need to know that Americans are paying attention and we REJECT Trump and McConnell's efforts to rubber-stamp unfit judges, especially during the current crisis.

OMG

Four of the nine justices on the Supreme Court have strong ties to the group. Gorsuch and Justice Clarence Thomas regularly speak at events, and Justice Samuel Alito said during his confirmation hearings that he was a proud member.

Though Chief Justice John Roberts said he did not recall being a member of the group during his confirmation process, The Washington Post reported in 2001 that he was listed in the group’s 1997–1998 directory as a member of its steering committee.

The Federalist Society, which does not lobby for legislation, take policy positions or sponsor or endorse nominees and candidates for public service, is funded through grants, membership and donations.

Top donors include the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, David Koch and Koch Industries Inc., which each contributed $100,000 last year. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce contributed $500,000, according to the society’s 2016 annual report. Revenue and support totaled $26.75 million in 2016.

The society says its main mission is to create a forum for legal experts of opposing views to interact with members of the legal profession, the judiciary, law students and academics, including through events such as the National Lawyer’s Convention that begins Thursday in Washington.

The three-day convention will include keynote speeches from Gorsuch, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and White House Counsel Donald McGahn.

The Federalist Society’s rise has come as the American Bar Association has seen its standing fall.

McGahn notified the ABA in a letter in March that the White House was ending the long-standing practice of inviting the independent ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary to review the professional qualifications of prospective nominees to the lower federal courts before nominations are made.

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omg

lewis powell ran,then?

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w/ law360 legends of the law

2022

Mark Brazeal, Chief Legal Officer, Broadcom Inc.
Jonathan P. Graham, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Secretary, Amgen
John S. Jenkins Jr., Executive Vice President, General Counsel, TE Connectivity
James Kelleher, Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, Liberty Mutual Insurance
James Y. Kerr II, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, Southern Company
Deborah P. Majoras, Chief Legal Officer, Secretary, The Procter & Gamble Company
George A. Massih III, General Counsel, Corporation Service Company
Justin Miller, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Avantor
Jonathan Olefson, General Counsel, Syneos Health
Lori A. Schechter, Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel, McKesson Corporation
Laura Stein, Executive Vice President – General Counsel & Corporate Affairs, The Clorox Company
Alan Tse, Global Chief Legal Officer, Corporate Secretary, Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated
Patrice Walch-Watson, Senior Managing Director, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments)
April Miller Boise, Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Counsel, Eaton Corporation
Doug Lankler, Executive Vice President and General Counsel,Pfizer

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2019

Ivan Fong, Senior Vice President, Legal Affairs and General Counsel, 3M Company
Susan L. Lees, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, The Allstate Corporation
R. Hewitt Pate, Vice President and General Counsel, Chevron Corporation
Juliette Pryor, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Cox Enterprises, Inc.
Kelly McNamara Corley, Former Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Discover Financial Services, Inc.
Marie Oh Huber, SVP Legal Affairs, General Counsel & Secretary, eBay Inc.
Rena Hozore Reiss, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Marriott International
E. Lee Reichert, Chief Legal & Corporate Affairs Officer, Molson Coors
Dorian Daley, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary, Oracle Corporation
Tony West, Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, Uber Technologies Inc.
Norman M. Brothers, Jr., Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, United Parcel Service (UPS)
Jeffrey Carr, Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, Univar Inc.

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2018

Robert E. Bostrom, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Abercrombie & Fitch
David Zapolsky, Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary,Amazon
Joseph F. Wayland, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Chubb
Mark Chandler, Senior Vice President, Legal Services, and General Counsel, Cisco
Charles J. Kalil, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, The Dow Chemical Company
Tye Darland, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Georgia-Pacific LLC
Kim Rivera, Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, HP Inc.
Jeffrey A. Kaplan, Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, LyondellBasell Industries N.V.
Sheila Cheston, Corporate Vice President and General Counsel, Northrop Grumman Corporation
Tim Murphy, General Counsel and Chief Franchise Officer, Mastercard
Amy E. Weaver, President, Legal & General Counsel, Salesforce
John W. Kuo, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Varian Medical Systems

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2017

Bruce Sewell, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Apple, Inc.
David G. Leitch, Global General Counsel, Bank of America Corporation
Lawrence P. Tu, Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Legal Officer, CBS Corporation
A. James Shafter, General Counsel, COFCO International Ltd.
Greg Boss, Executive Vice President Legal & CSL Group General Counsel, CSL Limited
Craig B. Glidden, Executive Vice President & General Counsel, General Motors Company, LLC
Kate Adams, Senior Vice President & General Counsel, Honeywell
Louise Pentland, Executive Vice President, Chief Business Affairs & Legal Officer, PayPal Inc.
Christoph Maeder, Group General Counsel & Company Secretary, Syngenta AG
Teresa Wynn Roseborough, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, & Corporate Secretary, The Home Depot
N. Cornell Boggs, III, Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, Toys “R” Us, Inc.
Sandra Phillips Rogers, Group Vice President, General Counsel & Chief Legal Officer, Toyota Motor North America, Inc.
Leslie T. Thornton, Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, WGL Holdings, Inc. and Washington Gas

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2016

A. Robert D. Bailey, Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, & Corporate Secretary, Allergan PLC
Timothy B. Phillips, General Counsel & Assistant Secretary, American Cancer Society, Inc.
Timothy A. Pratt, Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel, & Secretary, Boston Scientific Corporation
S. Jack Balagia, Jr., Vice President & General Counsel, ExxonMobil Corporation

off BS

...After graduating from the University of Texas Law School and clerking for a U.S. district court judge, he joined the Austin, firm of McGinnis, Lochridge and Kilgore in 1977 and began representing Exxon. He joined Exxon's litigation section in 1998 and served as its coordinator of upstream litigation until 2004, when he was named assistant general counsel. In 2010, he became the company’s vice president and general counsel and served in that capacity until his retirement in November 2016.

Balagia has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America and has been named a “Texas Super Lawyer” by Texas Monthly magazine. He has served as president of the University of Texas Law School Alumni Association Executive Committee and as a vice chair of the UT Law School Foundation Board. His civic contributions include board positions with the Salvation Army, the U.S. Chamber, the Houston Bar Foundation and committees of the State Bar of Texas....

Michelle Banks, Executive Vice President, Global General Counsel, Corporate Secretary, & Chief Compliance Officer (former), Gap Inc.
Laura Fennell, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, & Secretary, Intuit Inc.
David M. Shannon, Executive vice President, Chief Administrative Officer, & Secretary, NVIDIA Corporation
Bjarne Tellmann, General Counsel & Chief Legal Officer, Pearson PLC
Kenneth S. Siegel, Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel, & Head of Global Citizenship (Social Responsibility), Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
Jim Wang, Chief Legal Rep., ZTE (USA) Inc.

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2015

Thomas J. Sabatino, Jr., Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel, Hertz Corporation
Ira P. Berman, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation
Lisa Rickard, Executive Vice President, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
John F. Schultz, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Hewlett-Packard Company
John B. Wright, General Counsel, Triumph Group
Chaim A. Levin, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel, Tradition Group
Andrea Daly, Managing Director and General Counsel, Onex
Kevin A. Fox, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Sharp Electronics Corporation
Rosland Fisher McLeod, Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, SCL Health

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2014

David F. Snively, Executive Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel, Monsanto Company
Don H. Liu, General Counsel and Secretary, Xerox Corporation
Leslie M. Turner, Senior Vice President General Counsel and Secretary, The Hershey Company
Jack C. Silhavy, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Fresenius Kabi USA
Jane C. Sherburne, Senior Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, BNY Mellon
Marianne D. Short, Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, UnitedHealth Group (NYS: UNH)
Kim Rucker, Executive Vice President, Corporate and Legal Affairs, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Kraft Foods Group, Inc.
Kellye Walker, Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel and Secretary,American Water WorksCompany, Inc.
R. Stanton Dodge, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, DISH Network L.L.C.
James B. Buda, Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, Caterpillar,Inc.

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2013

Betty A. Whelchel, General Counsel,BNP Paribas
Denise F. Keane, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Altria Group, Inc.
Daniel Troy, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, GlaxcoSmithKline
Eric G. Klein, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Kyocera International, Inc.
J. Michael Wilder, Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary,Marathon PetroleumCorporation
D. Cameron Findlay, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Medtronic, Inc.
Felix Ehrat, PhD, Group General Counsel, Novartis International AG
Brian Eduardo Cabrera, Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Synopsys, Inc.
Edward A. Ryan, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Marriott International, Inc.
Shari H. Wolkon, Managing Director and General Counsel, Thomas H. Lee Partners

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2012

Les Parrette, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Compliance Officer, Novelis, Inc.
Marschall I. Smith, Senior Vice President, Legal Affairs and General Counsel, 3M Company
Maria Pasquale, Senior Vice President, Legal and Deputy General Counsel, Celgene Corporation
Susan L. Blout, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Prudential Financial, Inc.
James M. Strother, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Wells Fargo & Company
Amy Schulman, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Pfizer, Inc.

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2011

Frank J. Baltz, Senior Vice President & Chief Legal Officer, Clark Construction Group LLC
Pascal W. Di Fronzo, Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary, Autodesk, Inc.
Janet Langford Kelly, Senior Vice President Legal, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, ConocoPhillips Company
Thomas A. Russo, Executive Vice President Legal, Compliance, Regulatory Affairs and Governmental Affairs & General Counsel, American International Group, Inc. (AIG)
Larry D. Thompson, John Sibley Chair in Corporate and Business Law, University of Georgia School of Law
Michael Weiner, General Counsel & Chief Legal Officer, Ares Management LLC

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2010

Thomas L. Sager, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, EI du Pont de Nemours
Linda F. Friedman, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Astellas US LLC
Amy Fliegelman Olli, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, CA Technologies
Peter J. Beshar, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Marsh & McLennan Companies
Susan E. Goldy, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Church & Dwight Co., Inc

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2009

Linda V. Tiano, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Health Net, Inc.
Brackett B. Denniston III, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, General Electric Company
Teri P. McClure, Senior Vice President of Legal, Compliance and Public Affairs, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, United Parcel Service, Inc.
Michael Ettinger, Corporate Senior Vice President, Henry Schein, Inc.
Charles W. Matthews, Vice President and General Counsel,ExxonMobil Corporation
Stanley F. Baldwin, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, AMERIGROUP Corporation
George J. Lykos, Chief Legal Officer, Bayer Corporation
James J. Bender, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, The Williams Companies
Bart Colli, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, ARAMARK

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2008

James W. Cicconi, Senior Executive Vice President, External and Legislative Affairs, AT&T, Inc.
Christopher S. Dewees, Chief Legal Officer, Corporate Development, JDS Uniphase Corporation
Charles A. James, Vice President andGeneral Counsel, Chevron Corporation
Carrie L. Schiff, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Flextronics International Ltd.
Beth A. Wilkinson, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Fannie Mae

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2007

Timothy Mayopoulos, EVP and General Counsel, Bank of America Corporation
Richard H. Walker, General Counsel,Deutsche Bank AG
Geralyn M. Presti, SVP, General Counsel & Assistant Secretary, Forest City Enterprises, Inc.
Michele Coleman Mayes, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Pitney Bowes, Inc.
James T. Hale, General Counsel, Target Corporation

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When Michael S. Joyce died in February 24, his death received scant attention in the mainstream press. Although very few people in academic circles are familiar with his name, he was, nonetheless, one of the foundational pillars of the current ideological attacks on the academy. A tribute to him [8] by Peter Collier was published in FrontPage, Horowitz’s Web site. Joyce and his intellectual muse -- the late University of Chicago political philosopher Leo Strauss [9] -- would have been pleased by the level of anonymity that he maintained during his lifetime. Joyce's ability to maintain such anonymity despite the enormous influence that he wielded in shaping and developing the infrastructure of the neoconservative movement in this country is quite remarkable.

Although The Atlantic Monthly, as early as 1986, was describing Joyce as "one of the three individuals most responsible for the triumph of the conservative political movement," he nevertheless adhered rigorously to the secretive and profoundly antidemocratic principles advocated by the enigmatic Strauss. As characterized by Jeet Heer in The Boston Globe, [10] Strauss held that "the best regime is one in which the leaders govern moderately and prudently, curbing the passions of the mob while allowing a small philosophical elite to pursue the contemplative life of the mind. Such a philosophical elite may discover truths that are not fit for public consumption.... For Strauss the art of concealment and secrecy was among the greatest legacies of antiquity."

In 1979, Michael Joyce entered the world of large-scale philanthropy with assistance from his mentor Irving Kristol, when he assumed the reins of the John M. Olin Foundation from the retiring president, William Simon. At Olin, one of Joyce’s first projects was to organize support for the launching of the Federalist Society. [11] Joyce’s work in creating and fostering the development of the Federalist Society is instructive and foreshadows the role that he has played in current efforts by neoconservatives to restructure American higher education. The Federalist Society, with Joyce’s ongoing support, not only fostered the development of ultra-conservative legal scholars and politicians such as Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Robert Bork, Samuel Alito, John Ashcroft, Alberto Gonzales and Kenneth Starr (all of whom are members) but organized them into a powerful force for reshaping American jurisprudence in support of a larger neoconservative agenda.

Also significant in this regard is a report by Jerome Shestack, [12] former president of the American Bar Association, that the Federalist Society is being increasingly being used as a platform from which to launch ideological attacks on the mainstream legal community. Through the device of the Federalist Society publication, ABA Watch, the society has launched a vicious attack on the ABA. In a special edition of the Watch, U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), co-chair of the society, announced that he would no longer invite the ABA to participate on a pro forma basis in the Senate judicial confirmation process. Employing rhetoric eerily parallel to that being used in the current attacks on the academy, Justice Clarence Thomas openly denounced the ABA, declaring “I am doubtful that the ABA can ever reform itself.”

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