The D.C. Bar occupies a key role in licensing and discipline for the nation’s capital. It’s the entity that permanently disbarred Rudy Giuliani and is considering the same for Attorney General cosplayer Jeff Clark. When coups happen, the D.C. Bar is the ethical bulwark of the profession and a critical institution for checking back future erosion of the rule of law brought on by lawyers in Trump’s orbit.
So it’s probably totally fine that Pam Bondi’s brother and interim US Attorney/Internet Crank Ed Martin’s Principal Assistant are running for senior D.C .Bar leadership roles! Nothing to see here. Move along.
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Brad Bondi of Paul Hastings, brother of newly appointed U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, is running for president of the D.C .Bar and newly installed Principal Assistant United States Attorney of D.C. Alicia Long is gunning for treasurer.
In the abstract, both boast qualified resumes. Brad Bondi is the co-chair of Paul Hastings’ investigations and white-collar defense practice and Long has served the Department of Justice in various roles since 2014.
But timing, as they say, is everything.
Running for control of Washington’s ethical watchdog while your sister describes her department as the “personal lawyers” of the guy who got his last crop of lawyers disbarred, indicted, or both? Treasurer while your immediate supervisor flirts openly with conspiracy theories? Does not look great!
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To be clear, the president and treasurer don’t hold omnibus power over the Bar’s ethical work. There’s a separate board running disciplinary matters and it reports to the courts. That said, the vote smacks of both symbolic significance and concrete importance to the extent bar associations perform valuable pro bono and professional development services in areas that the Trump administration actively attacks other bar associations for championing.
While one suspects both candidates will tout their independence — and they may be sincere about it — this doesn’t feel like the moment to turn over the District’s lawyer association to candidates with deep personal and professional ties to an administration already blowing past historical guardrails.
In fact, the optics are SO bad that it’s hard to extend the benefit of the doubt here. Knowing the perceived conflicts and the risk of undermining the organization’s credibility, the decision to go forward with a campaign reads like an intentional infiltration effort no matter how strenuously they deny it. Which is a shame if they’re being genuine, but life isn’t always fair.
Just wait to run until 2028! Or, alternatively, whenever Trump leaves office.
The D.C .Bar’s 2025 elections will take place exclusively online from mid-April to early June. Active D.C. Bar members in good standing as of February 28 will receive an email link to vote. Bar elections often suffer from low turnout due to a lack of awareness or perceived insignificance. However, the stakes in this election seem inordinately high.
UPDATE: Brad Bondi responded to us about the coverage surrounding his candidacy:
“The Bar has a non-partisan mission, which I intend to vigilantly protect against any push to politicize it. My effort to run for DC Bar president began months before the federal elections and has no connection with national politics at all.
With my six years of DC Bar leadership—having been elected two times to a Bar leadership position— three years in public service, and over 20 years in private practice and as a law professor, my record of serving the legal community with that integrity is plain to see. As an active member of the DC Bar for 26 years I’ve also been elected twice to the steering committee of the DC Bar section on Corporations, Finance, and Securities Law and have devoted over 20 years to DC Bar-sponsored pro bono work. I have lived in the DC community all that time.
My focus at the Bar is on efficiency and practical benefits — such as providing free on-demand continuing legal education for all 50 states, more educational program, expanded pro bono opportunities, and swift issuance of certificates of good standing at no charge —all drawing on my non-partisan leadership at law firms, in government, and various non-profits including the Atlantic Council, the Piedmont Environmental Council, the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institution, Big Brothers Big Sisters (where I have served as a big brother for twenty years) and the DC Bar sections. This isn’t about politics; I’m running to help strengthen our profession and support members of the Bar no matter what their beliefs or backgrounds.”
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.