In the wake of Donald Trump’s election, several Big Law leaders are calling on the profession to take a more vocal and visible stand to protect the rule of law. “Given the election and its many implications, there has been no moment in recent memory when it has been more important for lawyers to fulfill their professional responsibilities,” says William Lee, former co-chairman of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. “As a profession, we must ensure that the rule of law that is our fundamental core value is our highest priority and applicable and available to everyone.”
Brad Karp, chairman of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, expressed a similar sentiment. “This has been a very painful election cycle,” he says. “There is absolutely no place in our democracy for disrespecting the rule of law, for disrespecting the democratic process, and for attacking and denigrating individuals based on their gender, race or ethnicity. Such rank prejudice is anathema to the fundamental principles on which our nation was founded. Let us hope that our new president governs in a more inclusive and statesmanlike way than he campaigned.”
