Pearl River The Knights of Labor, an early American laborunion,n used to bar bankers and lawyers from membership in their organization. These days, in the United States, it’s easy to see why lawyers were included in such a ban. Many of us could have quite a long and engaged argument about the evidence in contemporary society and politics on whether in fact the legal profession can maintain any pretense of being an honorable one.
It’s embarrassing to read about the biggest and most powerful law firms in the country, packed with hundreds of top flight attorneys and sky-high billing rates, being humiliated as too many of them buckle before the throne when under attack by Trump and his administration. A couple of them stand and fight, and, not surprisingly, quickly win injunctions from federal judges blocking the federal government’s overreach. At the same time, other firms double down on deals with Trump. One firm earlier agreed to $40 million in pro bono services to Trump favorites. Now another firm has upped the ante and agreed to $100 million pro bono for whatever. When even law firms can’t make a case for the rule of law versus the rule of the dollar, there’s real rot all the way down.
This whole problem of honor and self-respect deserves more attention, as these legal corporate collectives are proving. Top federal prosecutors in New York and elsewhere resigned when the Justice Department moved to drop charges at Trump’s bequest against the mayor of New York for corruption. Many of them had fancy Ivy League degrees and clerkships with Supreme Court justices. I wonder if they are employable now, or whether firms would be afraid to hire them because of attacks by the government? While many of us applaud principled, honorable stands, clearly others run and duck for cover. What a miserable profession.
A conservative columnist for the Times with a legal background recently opined about the Signal chat scandal, l saying in essence that if the Secretary of Defense Hegseth had any honor, then he would resign. Of course, he has not, nor does it seem to have ever occurred to him or any of them on the chat to do anything other than coming together in the cover-up and blaming others game. The notion of honor and personal integrity seem to be nonexistent and quaint concepts in this administration.
Having honor means being able to take full responsibility for your actions and being accountable for them. It means understanding that there is a place where the buck stops, even if you don’t feel guilt, because the common good depends on people in charge being able to do the right and honorable thing when something goes bad on their watch.
Reading the reactions of fighter pilots who were put in harms way and now see that their political bosses issuing the orders are unwilling to protect their safety, demonstrates what happens when no one stands tall. Reading about petitions from young lawyers who interned at these supplicant law firms who now feel deceived that they swallowed the myth of these firms’ reputations that have now been proven so false and hollow, also registers the erosion at the base of the whole profession.
Maybe while the Trump administration dredges deeply for laws from the 1700s to rationalize its actions, it is also worth them doing some homework into the obsession felt by many in past centuries about honor and personal integrity. Perhaps they took these concepts too far, including with life and death duels, but that doesn’t explain why in the 21st century, we seem to have forgotten the term and lost any sight of the principles.