05/16/2025
State Bar Board Approves Statement on Recent Federal Executive Actions Threatening the Availability of Legal Counsel and the Rule of Law
As many of you are aware, in recent weeks, the federal government has issued executive orders targeting law firms based on their representation of clients and positions unpopular with the current administration. At its recent May 9, 2025, meeting, the Board of Trustees approved the release of a statement on such actions, which threaten the availability of legal counsel and the rule of law. The Board also authorized amicus participation in lawsuits challenging the executive orders.
Please see the Board of Trustees' full statement below.
To State Bar licensees and the public we serve:
The State Bar of California exists to protect the public through the licensing, regulation and discipline of attorneys; the advancement of the ethical and competent practice of law; and supporting efforts for greater access to, and inclusion in, the legal system. In carrying out its duties, the State Bar of California acts in accordance with certain fundamental principles that define the legal profession and are central to the State Bar’s mission:
Attorneys have an ethical duty to provide competent and diligent representation to clients, regardless of how unpopular or controversial their causes may be.
Attorneys must exercise independent professional judgment, free from external pressures or influences that might compromise their representation.
Attorneys must not reject, based on personal considerations, the cause of the defenseless or oppressed.
All attorneys swear an oath to uphold the United States and California Constitutions, and to faithfully discharge the duties of an attorney to the best of their knowledge and ability.
In both the federal and state legal systems, courts determine the meaning of the law, and all attorneys, including those in other branches of the government, have an obligation to comply with court orders.
These core principles, embodied in our Rules of Professional Conduct and the State Bar Act, are not merely aspirational—they are essential to the rule of law and the administration of justice.
When any action, regardless of its source, discourages or penalizes attorneys for representing certain clients or causes, it raises serious concerns about the ability of the legal profession to fulfill its obligations. The independence of the legal profession is a cornerstone of our justice system.
Recent actions of the current federal administration’s executive branch (the Administration) threaten these core principles. The Administration has taken actions against law firms, including through executive orders against certain law firms and negotiations that have resulted in agreements with others, based on those law firms’ representation of clients and positions unpopular with the Administration. Many of the representations criticized by the Administration are matters undertaken on a pro bono basis for indigent individuals, such as providing immigration legal services.
The Administration’s actions have included directions to government agencies to revoke law firm employees’ security clearances, limit access to federal buildings and employees, refrain from hiring law firm employees, and require federal contractors to disclose any business with targeted law firms.
Such actions directly imperil the ability of lawyers at these firms to competently represent their clients and have a chilling effect on the availability of competent legal counsel to represent clients unpopular with the Administration. This effect may be particularly harmful for those who lack economic means and rely on pro bono representation to access legal services. The threat to the legal system of these actions targeting law firms is such that United States District Court Judge Beryl Howell on May 2, 2025, permanently enjoined enforcement of an executive order issued against a law firm “to protect the independence of counsel to represent their clients vigorously and zealously, without fear of retribution from the government simply for doing the job of a lawyer.”
The State Bar reaffirms that all lawyers must be permitted to exercise their professional judgment and ethical duties without fear of reprisal. This position is not partisan but foundational to the advancement of ethical and competent practice of law and the preservation of the rule of law.
The State Bar encourages California attorneys, consistent with their oath to uphold the United States and California Constitutions, and to faithfully discharge their duties as attorneys, to speak out in support of the right to and availability of competent legal counsel to all and of the rule of law.
This statement is made on behalf of the State Bar of California, a state government agency. It is not intended to represent the views of any individual licensees of the State Bar of California.
