Yesterday afternoon, Rise and Resist, a nonprofit group dedicated to opposing government acts that “threaten[] democracy, equality, and our civil liberties,” gathered outside of the New York City Bar Association’s annual meeting as part of their Complicit Law Firm Protest Crawl, demonstrating against Biglaw firms’ cowardice. Specifically, because “real lawyers don’t give in without a fight,” RAR rallied against the nine law firms — Paul Weiss; Skadden; Willkie Farr; Milbank; Kirkland & Ellis; Latham & Watkins; Simpson Thacher; A&O Shearman; and Cadwalader — that capitulated to Trump and signed pro bono payola deals that would forever stain their legacies.
“We will call out these cowardly law firms in front of their peers for deciding their profits are more important than defending the Constitution,” a RAR representative told Above the Law. The organization was careful to note that despite its location, the protest was not against the NYC Bar Association, which not only opposes Trump’s revenge tour against the legal profession, but also co-sponsored the Law Day rally at Foley Square denouncing Trump’s threats to the rule of law.
Here are some photos from the Rise and Resist protest against the nine orange shoe firms that put money over morals.
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Protests like these aren’t going to stop anytime soon. Biglaw needs to be better and do better during these trying times, to protect the rule of law and democracy as a whole.
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Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.