WASHINGTON D.C – Democracy Defenders Fund (DDF), Lawyers Defending American Democracy (LDAD), Lawyers for the Rule of Law, and a group of prominent attorneys, law professors, and former judges have submitted a complaint to the Florida Bar urging an investigation and appropriate sanctions against Attorney General Pam Bondi for engaging in professional misconduct that threatens the rule of law and the administration of justice.

The complaint explains how Ms. Bondi has sought to compel Department of Justice lawyers to violate their ethical obligations under the guise of “zealous advocacy,” as announced in her memorandum to all department employees on her first day in office.  That memorandum threatens lawyers with discipline and possible termination for falling short, even though the rules of professional conduct limit the “zeal” of attorneys to “lawful and ethical measures.”

The complaint focuses on three cases in which department lawyers were terminated or forced to resign as a result of demands they act unethically, either by Ms. Bondi or a member of her senior management team.

“Here, by aggressively implementing a ‘zealous advocacy’ policy that is directed towards conduct in pending and future judicial proceedings, and which requires her subordinates to routinely violate the Rules of Professional Conduct, Ms. Bondi has elevated loyalty to the person who appointed her (President Trump) over the interests of her client (the United States),” the complaint reads.

"Since her first day on the job, Pam Bondi has made clear that she plans to use the Department of Justice for political pursuits, and she has done just that,” said Norm Eisen, executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund. “Especially as the nation’s highest ranking legal officer, she must be held to account for her actions that threaten the rule of law and the administration of justice.”

James W. Conrad, Jr., one of the principal authors of the complaint and a volunteer with Lawyers Defending American Democracy, observed, "Creating an environment that forces lawyers to resign or be terminated for following ethical standards is the antithesis of what is required from the highest lawyer in the land. The Attorney General's assault on ethical standards threatens the rule of law throughout the country."

Daniel N. Arshack, President of Lawyers for Rule of Law said, "Without the strict obedience to the rules of ethics that have guided lawyers for over two centuries, the rule of law sinks, and our civilized society goes with it. Our leaders must be held accountable for the abandonment of their oaths and a total lack of ethics. We look to the Disciplinary Committees and the courts to protect the rule of law and our ‘civilized life.’”

"Zealous advocacy operates within the rules of ethics, not outside them. It never justifies placing a client’s interest above the lawyer’s obligation to obey those rules and is never an acceptable defense to a charge of violating those rules,” said Jon May, Creative Criminal Defense Consultants. “But the Attorney General wrongly demands government lawyers abandon their ethical obligations and advance the Administration’s agenda no matter the cost to the rule of law."

A copy of the complaint can be found HERE:  

A full list of signers is below:

●  Lawyers Defending American Democracy

●  Democracy Defenders Fund

●  Lawyers for the Rule of Law

●  Jon May**, Creative Criminal Defense Consultants

●  Scott Harshbarger, Chairman, Lawyers Defending American Democracy, Former National President of Common Cause, Two-term Attorney General of Massachusetts**

●  Norm Eisen, Executive Chair, Democracy Defenders Fund

●  John T. Montgomery, Board Member, Lawyers Defending American Democracy

●  Daniel N. Arshack, President, Lawyers for the Rule of Law

●  Richard Abel**, Connell Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus, UCLA School of Law

●  Jane Aiken**, Former Dean, Wake Forest School of Law

●  Anthony V. Alfieri**, Michael Klein Distinguished Scholar Chair & Professor of Law, University of Miami School of Law

●  Ty Alper**, Clinical Professor of Law, University of California Berkeley, School of Law

●  Martha W. Barnett, Former President, American Bar Association, Board Member, Lawyers Defending American Democracy

●  Anita Bernstein**, Anita and Stuart Subotnick Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School

●  Shelley Broderick**, Dean Emerita & Joseph L. Rauh, Jr. Chair of Social Justice, UDC David A. Clarke School of Law

●  Susan Brooks**, Professor of Law, Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law

●  Virginia Canter, Ethics and Anticorruption Chief Counsel and Director, Democracy Defenders Fund

●  James W. Conrad**, Principal, Conrad Law & Policy Counsel, Volunteer, Lawyers Defending American Democracy

●  Scott Cummings**, Robert Henigson Professor of Legal Ethics, University of California Los Angeles, School of Law

●  Angela J. Davis, Distinguished Professor of Law, American University Washington College of Law

●  Evan Falchuk, Board Member, Lawyers Defending American Democracy

●  Nicholas Fels, Retired Partner, Covington & Burling LLP, Board Member, Lawyers Defending American Democracy

●  Helen E. Freedman, Justice of the New York Appellate Division, First Department. (Ret.)

●  Bennett Gershman**, University Distinguished Professor of Law, Pace School of Law

●  Nancy Gertner, Former U.S. District Court Judge (D. Mass), Senior Lecturer in Law, Harvard Law School**

●  Cynthia Godsoe**, Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School

●  Lissa Griffin**, Professor of Law, Pace School of Law

●  John Wesley Hall**, Past President NACDL, Past Chair NACDL Ethics Committee

●  Stephen F. Hanlon, Former Pro Bono Partner, Holland & Knight, LLP Past Chair, Section of Civil Rights & Social Justice, American Bar Association

●  G.S. Hans**, Clinical Professor of Law, Director, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Clinic, Cornell Law School

●  Barbara Jaffe, Associate Justice, New York Supreme Court (Ret.)

●  Marcy L. Kahn, Associate Justice, New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division (Ret.)

●  JD King**, Professor of Law, Rutgers Law School

●  John Koski, Former Partner and Global Chief Legal Officer, Dentons, Board Member, Lawyers Defending American Democracy

●  Bruce Kuhlik**, Former Assistant to the Solicitor General, U.S. Department of Justice, Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University Law Center, Volunteer, Lawyers Defending American Democracy

●  Lisa Lerman**, Professor of Law Emerita, The Catholic University of America

●  Theo Liebmann**, Clinical Professor of Law, Executive Director Freedman Institute for the Study of Legal Ethics, Hofstra School of Law

●  David Luban**, Distinguished University Professor, Georgetown University Law Center

●  Richard Lubin, Past President of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers, Former Board Member of National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

●  Bruce Lyons, Past President, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Past President, Criminal Law Section, American Bar Association

●  Stephen Marcus, Volunteer, Lawyers Defending American Democracy

●  Howard Matz, Former U.S. District Judge (C.D.CA)

●  Thomas Mela, Retired Managing Attorney of the Massachusetts Advocates for Children Board Member, Lawyers Defending American Democracy

●  Karla Moskowitz, Justice of the New York State Appellate Division, First Department (Ret.)

●  Cheryl Niro, Past President, Illinois State Bar Association, Board Member, Lawyers Defending American Democracy

●  Lorriane Nordlund, Judge, Fairfax (VA) County Circuit Court (Ret.)

●  Patsy Palmer, Co-Founder, D’Alemberte & Palmer, PLLC

●  Barbara J. Pariente, Retired Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court

●  Russell G. Pearce**, Professor of Law, Edward & Marilyn Bellet Chair in Legal Ethics, Morality, and Religion, Fordham University School of Law

●  Jeffrey J. Pokarak**, Professor of Law, Director, Supreme Court Clinic, Suffolk University Law School

●  Peggy A. Quince, Retired Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court, Board Member, Lawyers Defending American Democracy

●  Gershon M. (Gary) Ratner, Co-Founder and Board Member, Lawyers Defending American Democracy, Former Associate General Counsel for Litigation, U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development

●  Mitt Regan**, McDevitt Professor of Jurisprudence, Director, Center on National Security and Law, Coordinator, Program on Law, Ethics, and International Security, Georgetown University Law Center

●  Lauren Stiller Rikleen, Executive Director and Board Member, Lawyers Defending American Democracy, Past Chair Civil Rights & Social Justice Section of the American Bar Association, Former President, Boston Bar Association

●  Cassandra Robertson**, John Deaver Drinko - BakerHostetler Professor of Law, Case Western Reserve University School of Law

●  Estelle H. Rogers, Former Member, ABA House of Delegates, Board Member, Lawyers Defending American Democracy

●  Tanina Rostain**, Agnes Williams Sesquicentennial Professor of Justice Innovation, Georgetown University Law Center

●  Robert Rubinson**, Dean Gilbert A. Holmes Professor of Clinical Theory and Practice, University of Baltimore School of Law

●  David Rudovsky**, Kairys Rudovsky Messing Feinberg & Lin Senior Fellow, University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law

●  Philip Schrag**, Delaney Family Professor of Public Interest Law, Georgetown University Law Center

●  Tony Sebok**, Professor of Law, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

●  Ilene Seidman**, Clinical Professor of Law Emerita, Suffolk University Law School

●  R. Kelly Sheridan, Past President, Rhode Island Bar Association, Board Member, Lawyers Defending American Democracy

●  Gary Simson, Macon Chair in Law and Former Dean, Mercer Law School**, Professor Emeritus, Cornell Law School, Board Member, Lawyers Defending American Democracy

●  David Singleton**, Professor of Law, UDC David A. Clarke School of Law

●  Rima Sirota**, Professor of Law, Legal Practice, Georgetown University Law CenterAbbe Smith**, Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center

●  Janet R. Studley, Past Chair, Section of Civil Rights & Social Justice, American Bar Association

●  Jeff Swartz**, Miami-Dade County Court Judge (Ret.), Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Law, Cooley Law School, Tampa Bay Campus Past Chair, Fla. Sup. Ct. Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee

●  Bruce Lee Udolf. Associate Independent Counsel for the Whitewater investigation, Former Chief of the Public Integrity Section, USAO, SDFL

●  Rodney J. Uphoff**, Elwood L. Thomas Missouri Endowed Professor Emeritus of Law, University of Missouri School of Law

●  Bradley Wendel**, Edwin H. Woodruff Professor of Law,Cornell Law School

●  Walter H. White Jr., Former Wisconsin Securities Commissioner, Past Chair Civil Rights & Social Justice Section of the American Bar Association, Board Member, Lawyers Defending American Democracy

●  Lucien Wulsin, Founder and Retired Executive Director, Insure the Uninsured Project** Board Member, Lawyers Defending American Democracy

●  Ellen Yaroshefsky**, Distinguished Professor of Legal Ethics, Hofstra School of Law

** These signatories have signed solely in their individual capacities and do not do so on behalf of the named organization or other affiliation.

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Democracy Defenders Fund brings together a nonpartisan team to work with national, state and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundations of our democracy.

Lawyers Defending American Democracy is a coalition of lawyers united in the defense of our democracy.