All the focus on white-shoe law firms isn't just about abstract ideals or scales falling from people's eyes. They're preemptively bailing on clients who can't find representation elsewhere because actual civil society doesn't have the resources. Sounding the alarm. www.offmessage.net/p/elite-lawy... - ThreadSky

brianbeutler.bsky.social • 13 days ago

All the focus on white-shoe law firms isn't just about abstract ideals or scales falling from people's eyes. They're preemptively bailing on clients who can't find representation elsewhere because actual civil society doesn't have the resources. Sounding the alarm. https://www.offmessage.net/p/elite-lawyers-choose-money-over-constitution

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splatterthought.bsky.social•13 days ago

This is a wildly smart piece.

A rollercoaster of stark bluntness, corkscrewing nuance & belly dropping cliffs of scary reality...

Karp's "explanation" letter mentioned a lack of support from other firms.
Firms could pass clients off to other firms & offer oversight to force Trump to sue everyone.

cborshuk.bsky.social•13 days ago

Exactly the same with universities that have large endowments
Money makes cowards.

tomeclarke.bsky.social•13 days ago

It might be that the best work-around is to stop doing some pro-bono work, and instead send cash to organizations that can take on these clients.

gregoryhorowitz.bsky.social•13 days ago

Another potential workaround is for litigation departments to split off into separate boutique firms, free from the craven concerns of their erstwhile transactional brethren but able to work as co-counsel where courtroom work (i.e., real lawyering) is needed.

brianbeutler.bsky.social•13 days ago

The big firms are failing to solve a collective-action problem. In theory it should be soluble. These are rich people, well-networked to each other. They care about prestige and there aren't that many of them. But money is the biggest confounding variable: they want to be even richer.

mattfreund.bsky.social•13 days ago

Not sure how that is any different than many Trump supporters.

2ndadminstate.bsky.social•13 days ago

Not trying to justify their actions, but what would be the collective good realized by collective action? If they are a small group and thus a ‘privileged’ group, they still have to see a gain from the collective action for themselves in order to tolerate the free riding from most other firms.

jbienvenu.bsky.social•13 days ago

It has never been realistic to rely on Big Law firms to sustain public interest litigation. Their pro bono work is primarily to attract talent from law schools and has alway been in tension with their clients and their profitability

brianbeutler.bsky.social•13 days ago

Another challenge: These guys, along with similarly stressed universities and blue states, are turning to various fixers (consultants, lawyers, etc) who aren't trained to remedy this kind of extortion, and whose job is to protect the narrow interests of clients. https://www.offmessage.net/p/elite-lawyers-choose-money-over-constitution

brianbeutler.bsky.social•13 days ago

There's not much time left to get this right. The first dominoes have fallen. Everyone has had time to pick themselves up, see the situation clearly, and adjust. But it appears they may stay in hiding until it's too late. https://www.offmessage.net/p/elite-lawyers-choose-money-over-constitution

radicalrealism.bsky.social•13 days ago

The firms being threatened are the only entities w/ standing to sue for these specific Constitutional transgressions by the Trump admin & DoJ. If they don't exercise their rights, to protect their rights, they will lose additional rights. This is the death of democracy by a 1,000 capitulations.

okdatapad.bsky.social•13 days ago

i feel like if we're waiting for rich lawyers to save us we're gonna be here longer than vladimir and estragon

dwmus.bsky.social•13 days ago

I know many of these big law attorneys and they have long ago bought into a system that demands tremendous personal sacrifice in exchange for a eventual partner level salary. They have no appetite for personal risk.

mrchompchomp.bsky.social•13 days ago

The unconscionable fucking greed of the rich …

gregoryhorowitz.bsky.social•13 days ago

The failure of the legal community is indefensible. That said, there is a potential partial solution this monkey-paw trap: all litigation departments should be split into separate boutique firms, free from corporate conflicts but able to work as co-counsel where transactional lawyers are needed.

maestraoogway.bsky.social•13 days ago

Do we need to subscribe for the entire article?

maestraoogway.bsky.social•13 days ago

📌

enceladusty.bsky.social•13 days ago

I suspect it's not helpful that over the last several decades the nation has sent a clear & consistent neoliberal message that everyone is on their own and should pursue their personal narrow interests, to the exclusion of all others.

maraleia.bsky.social•13 days ago

They are spineless pieces of shit who live in a goddamn bubble of wealth and privilege and don't want that to change. Fuck them forever.

arrpeeohh.bsky.social•13 days ago

Using their "eliminate all risk" lawyer brains instead of the "find a workaround" lawyer brain

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