88 law school deans unite to support professional independence
Eighty-eight current and former law school deans have endorsed the “Principles for the Independence of the Legal Profession,” drafted by a bipartisan group of former judges, that emphasizes the need for an independent judiciary and legal profession. (Photo by Douglas Sacha/Getty Images)
Eighty-eight current and former law school deans have endorsed the “Principles for the Independence of the Legal Profession,” drafted by a bipartisan group of former judges, that emphasizes the need for an independent judiciary and legal profession.
The deans are “opposed to efforts that would punish lawyers or their firms based on the identity of their clients or for their lawful and ethical advocacy,” according to the June 1 letter sent to Keep Our Republic, a nonpartisan civic education organization.
“Law schools have a special role in preserving the institutions that sustain constitutional democracy. We teach future lawyers not only how to practice law but why the independence of the courts and the legal profession matters,” said William M. Treanor, the dean emeritus at the Georgetown University Law Center, in a June 3 press release.
Other signatories include current and former deans from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law, the Boston University School of Law, Rutgers Law School, Boston College Law School, the University of Wisconsin Law School, the University of Washington School of Law, the Pennsylvania State University Dickinson Law, the University of Colorado Law School, the University of Nebraska College of Law and Seton Hall Law School.
“Law schools prepare future lawyers to serve their clients and uphold the ethical responsibilities of the profession. Those responsibilities become harder to fulfill if lawyers fear professional consequences because of who they represent or the arguments they make,” said Austen Parrish, the dean of the University of California at Irvine School of Law, in the press release.
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