In January 2025, a group of researchers who would later become part of LADD gathered at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law in Bloomington for Lawyers as Agents for Change in Countries Facing Distress, a two-day symposium co-sponsored by LADD and hosted by the Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies. The event was organized …
This document features the amicus brief filed July 20, 2026 in United States v. Fox, a case in the federal district court for D.C., by a group of roughly eighty legal ethics scholars and practitioners — law professors, former disciplinary counsel, and past bar association presidents — represented by the Democracy Defenders Fund and Lawyers …
This report, prepared by the Coalition for the International Day of the Endangered Lawyer, designates the United States as its 2026 focus country, arguing that threats to the legal profession have become systematic rather than isolated. Drawing on international standards such as the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers and the newly adopted …
Hundreds of former U.S. Department of Justice attorneys — who served under both Republican and Democratic administrations — have filed a formal comment opposing a proposed DOJ rule that would allow the Attorney General to block state bar associations from investigating federal government lawyers. The former officials argue the rule violates the McDade Amendment, a …
This report, published for the 16th International Day of the Endangered Lawyer (24 January 2026), examines growing threats to the independence, safety, and professional freedom of lawyers in the United States. Traditionally seen as a strong rule-of-law democracy, the U.S. has been selected as the 2026 focus country due to escalating political, institutional, and administrative …
In 2025, Lawyers Defending American Democracy (LDAD) responded to intensified challenges to due process, separation of powers, and judicial independence with a mix of accountability and action. The organization filed ethics complaints, submitted amicus briefs in major democracy-related cases, issued open letters and statements, and expanded organizing efforts—including Meeting the Moment, a national call for …
This article argues that the legal profession has an ethical obligation to hold Attorney General Pam Bondi accountable for actions that allegedly undermine the rule of law and professional standards within the U.S. Department of Justice The authors describe how mass firings of DOJ lawyers, political pressure on prosecutors, and a weakened system of internal …
Federal judges have dismissed the indictments against James Comey and Letitia James, ruling that the prosecutor who brought both cases — Lindsey Halligan — was unlawfully appointed as interim U.S. attorney. Because Halligan lacked legal authority to present the cases to the grand jury, both indictments were thrown out without prejudice. You can read the …
The D.C. Bar’s Ethics Opinion 391 (October 2025) addresses the ethical implications of lawyers or law firms entering agreements with government entities that may limit or shape their legal practice. The opinion cautions that such arrangements can create conflicts of interest, impose improper restrictions on a lawyer’s right to practice, or undermine professional independence. It …
On July 28, 2025, Lawyers Defending American Democracy (LDAD), its Maryland chapter (MD-LDAD), the Lawyers Society for the Rule of Law Institute (SRLI), and retired Judge J. Michael Luttig filed an amicus curiae brief in support of federal judges targeted by a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice. The case challenges a Standing …