Ed. note: Welcome to our daily feature, Quote of the Day.
When the executive branch puts their fingers on the scales of justice and says, ‘I’m going to punish you for your viewpoint,’ everybody in the bar should start heckling.
— Raymond J. Dowd, a partner at Dunnington Bartholow & Miller, in comments given to Bloomberg Law, concerning the “entirely spontaneous” moment when he started heckling Brad Karp, chair of Paul Weiss, over the firm’s pro bono deal with Trump, at last week’s New York Bar Foundation gala. After the event, Karp called Dowd to discuss what happened. “I appreciated him sharing his views,” Dowd said. “He was not expressing rage or anger. I just think he felt quite blindsided, and I said, ‘I felt exactly the same way.’” Dowd went on to say that it’s his “sincere hope” that his heckling brings about change. “I think having a larger dialogue on these issues is very important for the future health of the legal profession,” he said.
Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of 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.