Our Mission
The Lawyers and Democratic Decline (LADD) project brings together an international community of scholars investigating the role of lawyers in resisting — and at times enabling — authoritarianism in contexts of democratic backsliding.
Through collaborative research, comparative analysis, and public events, LADD explores how legal professionals navigate repression, uphold democratic norms, and negotiate their professional identity in times of political crisis.
Updates
-
“Attack on our society”: Supreme Court Justice Jackson defends judiciary
In a May 12 speech at Southern Methodist University, reported by the Baltimore Sun on May 13, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson warned that political attacks on judges and the broader judicial system…
-
Appeals court questions Trump executive orders targeting law firms
On May 14, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard oral arguments in the consolidated challenges brought by Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, WilmerHale, and…
-
Justice Department sues DC’s attorney disciplinary authorities for recommending a Trump ally be disbarred
The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Washington, DC’s attorney disciplinary authorities over their recommendation to disbar Jeffrey Clark, a Trump ally and former assistant attorney general, for his efforts to…
-
Law firms urge appeals court to keep blocking Trump’s sanctions against them
President Trump’s legal battle to sanction four major law firms—Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, Susman Godfrey, and WilmerHale—continues after an appellate court heard arguments Thursday on whether to uphold lower-court decisions blocking…
-
Why Lawyers Are Under Attack Around the World
Published May 8 in TIME, this essay surveys a global wave of state-sponsored attacks on lawyers, framing them as a deliberate authoritarian tactic to disable democratic checks. It highlights the April 2026…
Upcoming Events
Coming Soon…
