Statement on the March 22, 2025 White House Memorandum on “Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court”
The New York City Bar Association (the “City Bar”) strongly condemns the March 22, 2025 White House Memorandum directed to the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security, titled “Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court” (the “Memorandum”). The City Bar calls upon the Administration to retract the Memorandum, and to cease and desist these unwarranted attacks on the foundations of our legal system and the lawyers who uphold that system by representing clients whose rights may be denied by governmental error or abusive executive action.
In categorical and factually unsupported terms, the Memorandum broadly accuses attorneys and law firms of rampant misconduct in litigation involving the federal government, and instructs the Attorney General to initiate referral for disciplinary action against lawyers in such cases. The Memorandum also directs the Attorney General to use government resources to conduct an eight-year retrospective review of litigations brought against the federal government, signaling an intent to scrutinize and potentially sanction legal advocacy that may be disfavored by the current administration and its allies. Such misuse of government resources is not warranted and undermines their proper purpose, which is to uphold the rule of law—not to target disfavored advocacy.
The City Bar is outraged by the Memorandum’s sweeping accusations and insinuations, which are devoid of any legitimate factual basis and direct the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security to disregard and undermine foundational principles of the legal profession and the rule of law. By casting aspersions without any sound factual basis on entire categories of lawyers—particularly those engaged in immigration representation and pro bono litigation—without providing evidence, the Memorandum will inevitably chill vigorous legal advocacy and deter lawyers from taking on legitimate cases challenging government actions.
The Memorandum’s expansive accusations that the “immigration bar” and “powerful Big Law pro bono practices” routinely “coach clients to conceal their past or lie about circumstances when asserting their asylum claims” are unsupported and inflammatory. Lawyers are ethically obligated to counsel clients truthfully and to refrain from knowingly presenting false statements to a court or tribunal. The obligation to be truthful and not to mislead the courts applies to all counsel, including lawyers at the Department of Justice and other government lawyers. And lawyers are entitled to have honest and frank conversations with their clients, which are protected by the attorney-client privilege. The suggestion that standard legal counseling could be conflated with coaching dishonesty disregards the essential protections of attorney-client privilege and the due process rights of vulnerable clients seeking legal protection. Opposing counsel and government investigators are certainly permitted to test the credibility of the client and assess the truth of the statements made, but the ability to do so remains a fundamental part of our system of justice separate and apart from the sanctity of privileged communications. Lawyers must not be threatened with economic sanctions or discipline for actions taken in accordance with recognized professional duties, legal standards, and ethical requirements. The legal system cannot work at all if the Executive Branch prevents counsel from doing their jobs in our adversary system.
The Memorandum states that “law firms and individual attorneys have a great power, and obligation, to serve the rule of law, justice, and order.” The City Bar agrees that all attorneys must be held accountable for genuine misconduct and that appropriate disciplinary mechanisms exist to address such instances. The ultimate decision to impose sanctions, however, must be left to the courts and state bar disciplinary bodies, which are empowered to carefully review claims, conduct thorough and impartial investigations into alleged misconduct, and afford the accused attorney due process. These safeguards ensure accountability while protecting the integrity of the legal process and the rights of attorneys and their clients.
Executive directives, like the Memorandum, which target disfavored categories of legal representation or appear to politicize attorney discipline are an abuse of executive power and threaten both the independence of the legal profession and the separation of powers. In a government founded on democratic principles and rule of law values, the Executive Branch is obligated to take care to ensure that principles of due process, professional independence and access to justice are fully respected. We remind the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security that all attorneys employed by the federal government are bound by their professional oaths as lawyers to respect the constitutional rights of opposing parties and their counsel to free expression, association, due process and representation of their choosing.
The City Bar calls upon the Executive Branch to retract the Memorandum and reaffirm its commitment to the principles of due process, professional independence, and access to justice. We also urge members of Congress to exercise active, vigilant oversight of the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, including their most senior officials, to ensure adherence to these standards.
The strength of our adversarial legal system depends upon a robust, independent bar empowered to advocate without fear of reprisal. The City Bar admonishes the Executive Branch against seeking to deter members of the bar from carrying out their duties to protect the constitutional and legal rights of their clients. We pledge to stand with lawyers who defend those rights in accordance with their ethical obligations. We will continue to defend the role of lawyers in a free and democratic society, particularly where legal representation involves challenging the actions of those in power. No less than the future of our legal system is at stake.
About the Association
The mission of the New York City Bar Association, which was founded in 1870 and has 23,000 members, is to equip and mobilize a diverse legal profession to practice with excellence, promote reform of the law, and uphold the rule of law and access to justice in support of a fair society and the public interest in our community, our nation, and throughout the world. www.nycbar.org