Over 1,500 Attorneys Call On Bar Associations To Condemn Trump’s Attorneys

The Huffington Post reports, 1,500 Attorneys Call On Bar Associations To Condemn Trump Campaign Lawyers:

In an open letter, 1,500 attorneys – retired judges, law professors, DOJ alumni and two former presidents of the American Bar Association (ABA) among them – slammed the Donald Trump campaign for seeking to overturn the will of U.S. voters and called on bar associations to investigate lawyers who filed lawsuits on Trump’s behalf.

They accuse Rudy Giuliani and other Trump campaign lawyers of violating their code of conduct by lying and filing baseless legal actions, calling their behavior a “disgrace.”

“More than 35 49 losses in election-related cases have made one thing painfully clear: President Trump’s barrage of litigation is a pretext for a campaign to undermine public confidence in the outcome of the 2020 election, which inevitably will subvert constitutional democracy,” states the letter, organized by Lawyers Defending Democracy.

It notes that Trump’s “primary agents and enablers in this effort are lawyers,” who are obligated by “oath and ethical rules to uphold the rule of law.”

Bar associations “need to condemn this abuse and bar disciplinary authorities need to investigate it,” the letter demands.

A “license to practice law is not a license to lie to the public on behalf of a client,” and is barred by the ethics rules of the American Bar Association, which polices the behavior of attorneys, the letter notes. The code of conduct for lawyers also bars them from filing frivolous, baseless lawsuits.

“Our profession needs to affirm that this behavior grossly deviates from the bar’s deep commitment to democratic institutions and the fact-based processes that maintain our democracy’s vitality,” the letter concludes.

Law & Crime adds, Former American Bar Association Presidents, 1,000-Plus Lawyers Call for Bar Investigations of Trump Campaign Attorneys:

The group Lawyers Defending American Democracy (LDAD) said in a press release on Monday that President Donald Trump’s close ally Rudy Giuliani, the Trump campaign’s senior legal advisor Jenna Ellis, Trump campaign lawyers Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing, and “Kraken” freelancer Sidney Powell should all be investigated by Bar Associations for violating the ABA’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct, which “prohibits lawyers from making frivolous claims in court and engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, deceit and misrepresentation in or out of court.”

Let’s not forget the local counsels who were hired in each of the states in which these lawsuits were filed. An Arizona bar complaint has already been filed against Jack Wilenchik and Kory Langhofer. Bar Complaint Filed Against Attorneys in Frivolous AZ GOP Lawsuits. I would anticipate that a bar complaint will be filed against the Kolodin Law Group and Sidney Powell for the frivolous “Kraken” lawsuit.

The group and the undersigned pointed to three ABA Model Rules in particular: 4.1(a), 8.4(c), and 3.1.

Rules 4.1(a) says that “In the course of representing a client a lawyer shall not knowingly: make a false statement of material fact or law to a third person.” Rule 8.4(c) says “It is professional misconduct for a lawyer to: (c) engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.” Rule 3.1 says that a “lawyer shall not bring or defend a proceeding, or assert or controvert an issue therein, unless there is a basis in law and fact for doing so that is not frivolous, which includes a good faith argument for an extension, modification or reversal of existing law.”

Former ABA Presidents Laurel G. Bellows and Robert E. Hirshon notably signed the letter. Legal ethics scholar and New York University School of Law Professor Stephen Gillers previously argued that a disciplinary body could find that Joe diGenova violated a professional conduct rule when saying that Chris Krebsshould be “drawn and quartered” and “taken out at dawn and shot.” Krebs was the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and President Trump fired him for saying that 2020 election wasn’t rigged. Some Democratic lawmakers made a similar case specific to diGenova, while others filed complaints against Trump campaign lawyers in general.

Gillers joined LDAD’s call on Monday for bar associations to “forcefully repudiate” the “behavior” of Trump campaign lawyers.

“It was predictable that Trump would attack the courts and other public institutions to sow distrust in the election results. Sadly, some lawyers are abusing their law licenses and positions as officers of the court to aid him,” he said. “‘President’s Lawyers Trash American Democracy’ is a headline we never expected to see. To mitigate the harm such tactics can inflict, the bar must forcefully repudiate their behavior.”

Former ABA President Bellows, also a former president of the Chicago Bar Association, said that bar associations should “disavow” Trump campaign lawyers.

“Our justice system only works when lawyers tell the truth and adhere to their oath. Every attorney, including the organized bar and disciplinary authorities, should disavow lawyers who trample the truth and undermine democracy through their false statements,” Bellows said.

Well said.