The article explores the legal and ethical consequences for lawyers defending disputed election claims, proposing a new framework to balance First Amendment rights with professional responsibilities.
Archive
Nader (1995), “Lawyers and Law Students as Tools of Democracy”
The passage highlights that the true role of lawyers is to prevent injustice and promote democracy, elevating law from a trade to a profession.
Aral (2024), “International Lawyers as Hope Mongers: How Did We Come to Believe That Democracy Was Here to Stay?”
The article argues that current fears of democratic decline arise from unrealistic expectations rooted in Cold War-era progress narratives that presumed inevitable democratic consolidation.
Cummings (2025), “Why do Lawyers Attack the Rule of Law? Trajectories of ‘Trump Lawyers’”
The article examines how personal motives and structural factors shaped lawyers’ involvement in the “Stop the Steal” campaign, revealing broader patterns of polarization and democratic erosion within the legal profession.
McEvoy (2019), “Cause Lawyers, Political Violence, and Professionalism in Conflict”
The article examines how cause lawyers in authoritarian and conflict-affected societies balance legal professionalism with political commitment, using interviews and the concept of “legitimation work” to reveal evolving roles shaped by violence and transition.
Kazun and Yakovlev (2019), “Legal Mobilization in Russia: How Organizations of Lawyers Can Support Social Changes”
The article argues that in Russia, collective action by criminal defense lawyers can drive social change during periods of crisis, but its effectiveness depends on the institutional strength of legal organizations and the stance of their professional elites.
Pavone (2024), “Lawyering in Hard Places: Comparative Dispatches from the Margins of Legality”
The article argues that in authoritarian and transitional contexts, cause lawyers often defy traditional roles by challenging state-aligned bar associations, supporting contentious movements, and using unconventional tactics to confront judicial and political oppression.
Munger (2015), “Thailand’s Cause Lawyers and Twenty-First Century Military Coups: Nation, Identity, and Conflicting Visions of the Rule of Law”
The essay argues that Thai cause lawyers’ conflicting views on recent coups reveal how the rule of law is shaped by national identity, personal experience, and ties to social movements, rather than a universal legal standard.
Khan (2023), “The Lawyers’ Movement in Pakistan: How Legal Actors Mobilise in a Hybrid Regime”
The article argues that in Pakistan’s hybrid regime, lawyer-leaders and political parties, rather than courts alone, played a crucial role in judicial restoration, challenging traditional legal mobilization theories based on political liberalism.
Fu and Cullen (2008), “Weiquan (Rights Protection) Lawyering in an Authoritarian State: Building a Culture of Public‐Interest Lawyering”
China’s legal profession has rapidly privatized, leading to greater lawyer organization and social advocacy within the one-party state, despite ongoing government control.