News – Lawyers https://thirdact.org/lawyers Sun, 04 May 2025 19:53:58 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.1 https://thirdact.org/lawyers/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2024/02/cropped-wg-thumb-lawyers-32x32.jpg News – Lawyers https://thirdact.org/lawyers 32 32 Climate & Democracy Updates https://thirdact.org/lawyers/2025/05/04/climate-democracy-updates/ Sun, 04 May 2025 15:45:23 +0000 https://thirdact.org/lawyers/?p=465 Take a look. Send us tips. What are you doing to protect democracy and our planet? Let us know. lawyers@thirdact.org

  • One more reason why we need Law Day. These judges ruled against Trump. Then their families came under attack.
  • A ray of hope. Abbe Lowell launches his own firm to assist those unlawfully and inappropriately targeted.
  • What about States’ Rights? Trump administration sues four Democratic-led states to block climate laws, lawsuits.
  • Climate change ain’t cheap. Managing the climate change-fueled insurance crisis. This is a virtual event sponsored by the Center for American Progress and including opening remarks from U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). Use the link to register. Let us know what you learn.
  • Legislatures are winding down. Kudos to Third Act Minnesota for keeping an eye on things. Here’s an announcement for an upcoming zoom call on Tuesday, May 6: “As the state legislative session comes down to its last few weeks, Republicans and a few Democrats are trying to amend the Clean Energy law to include non-carbon free energy sources such as burning wood, and other biofuel and provide tax breaks to data centers. There’s still time to stop these bills that would take us backward from 100% clean energy. We will review some new legislative alert tools offered by Third Act Central that we could adopt, evaluate the effectiveness of our first legislative outreach efforts, and discuss outreach after the session ends.” Get in touch with your local Third Act Working Group and see what you can do.
  • And speaking of protests. Who has read Sarah Schulman’s “The Fantasy and Necessity of Solidarity?” It is recently released and gets this description in the Chicago Review of Books: “Schulman’s book is the perfect guide for those seeking to fight injustice and, yes, build solidarity. But the issue of solidarity is more complex than just people joining forces—an ideal that perhaps veers into the realm of fantasy. Schulman attests that we must recognize the fantasy of solidarity, which includes thinking our interventions are always effective, happen without cost, and come with gratitude or recognition. But she also wrestles with the necessity of working towards solidarity in activist movements and spaces, without which we may never see true progressive change and liberation. The Fantasy and Necessity of Solidarity is an essential book for our present moment.” 
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Wait … there’s more https://thirdact.org/lawyers/2025/05/04/wait-theres-more/ Sun, 04 May 2025 15:16:04 +0000 https://thirdact.org/lawyers/?p=461 Just in, from Chicago Law Day at Federal Plaza, Lawyers with signs! Take a look.

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Lots of Billable Hours https://thirdact.org/lawyers/2025/05/02/lots-of-billable-hours/ Fri, 02 May 2025 01:13:11 +0000 https://thirdact.org/lawyers/?p=447 Moving from East to West, Third Act Lawyers turned out from New York City to Minneapolis to San Francisco to re-take their oaths to support the rule of law. Thanks for your photos and your efforts.

NYC
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Minneapolis
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San Francisco
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Help Wanted – Lawyers Defending American Democracy https://thirdact.org/lawyers/2025/05/01/help-wanted-lawyers-defending-american-democracy/ Thu, 01 May 2025 03:21:00 +0000 https://thirdact.org/lawyers/?p=437
Note. Lawyers Defending American Democracy, a group we featured in a webinar last fall is looking for volunteers to help with initiatives focused on protecting & strengthening our democracy and the rule of law. See below for more information opportunities and complete this short survey if you are interested. Let them know you are a member of Third Act Lawyers.

Working Groups:

  • Amicus Brief Working Group. This group will assist in the development of amicus briefs in court cases.
  • Protecting Judicial Independence Working Group. This group will work on projects to defend the judiciary against threats, protect judicial independence, and develop education campaigns addressing these issues.
  • Accountability Working Group. This group will focus on meticulous research and development of potential disciplinary complaints against attorneys who violate the applicable rules of professional ethics in carrying out their duties.

Special Projects:

  • “Why it Matters.” Participants in this project assist in the creation of content to identify the connection between executive actions and their home section in Project 2025, and explain why it matters to the public. This is an ongoing series published by the Fulcrum.
  • Guardians of Justice – A Call for Lawyers to Lead. Participants in this new initiative will assist in promoting the use of LDAD’s new Toolkit, designed to help lawyers step up to run for office or seek governmental appointments to leadership positions.
  • Students Defending American Democracy. LDAD has been working with a core group of college students dedicated to bringing the cause of democracy to universities across the country. Support is needed to engage professors and administrators in support of these efforts, including assistance with campus events that help students understand the connections between the loss of democracy and the rule of law, and the impacts on their personal freedoms.
  • Fundraising. LDAD is a small nonprofit organization and depends on individual contributions. Fundraising support is critical to the expansion of our work. Help can be as limited as reaching out to your networks and encouraging them to support our work, to participating in more targeted fundraising efforts.
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Tips for May 1 Law Day Actions https://thirdact.org/lawyers/2025/04/28/tips-for-may-1-law-day-actions/ Mon, 28 Apr 2025 12:51:29 +0000 https://thirdact.org/lawyers/?p=432 Horrified by recent grab-up “disappearings” of people unpopular with the federal administration, a handful of friends — some lawyers and some not — took to heart Joan Baez’s exhortation that “Action is the antidote to despair.”

On very short notice, we met up in front of the nearby historic courthouse — a readymade backdrop to send a message supporting free speech, due process and rule of law. We grabbed markers, storyboarded about a range of issues, and hammed up a flamboyantly mock attack on each person who spoke out. Then we messaged about what had happened to our trussed-up prisoners, deprived of their constitutional rights.

We cut the images together into short videos, and appended encouragement for other DIY actions, info on contacting Congress, and a plug for Law Day of Action on May 1st.

Finally, we posted on Instagram and uploaded as YouTube shorts. Within hours of posting, we had thousands of views! We also shared the YouTube links in our personal networks, in comment sections of pro-democracy Substacks, etc.

A greencard holder at the grocery store today thanked me for posting, saying she feels she cannot speak out. What actions can we take as Third Actors to exercise our various privileges and abilities? “No one can terrorize a whole nation, unless we are all his accomplices.” (Edward R. Murrow)

Here are our DIY-for-due process videos:

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Sign up for a Law Day of Action event on May 1! https://thirdact.org/lawyers/2025/04/26/sign-up-for-a-law-day-of-action-event-on-may-1/ Sat, 26 Apr 2025 00:43:10 +0000 https://thirdact.org/lawyers/?p=426 Third Act Lawyers are proud to be co-sponsoring this event along with many other organizations and bar association across the country. All of us share deep concern about the accelerating attacks on the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession and want to take action.

Please join attorneys, law students, and judges nationwide on Thursday, May 1 for a powerful demonstration supporting the independence of our courts and the legal profession — cornerstones of American democracy. Events are planned in over 45 cities across the country. We need your voice!

Use the QR code below or go to lawdayofaction.org

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Save the Date: May 1st National Day of Law Action https://thirdact.org/lawyers/2025/04/21/save-the-date-may-1st-national-day-of-law-action/ Mon, 21 Apr 2025 00:17:27 +0000 https://thirdact.org/lawyers/?p=400

Many of us have been eager to do something concrete in support of the rule of law. We all have a chance to participate in (or help organize) a Stand for the Rule of Law event on May 1 at noon (local time). See our Events tab and the and the Lawyers for Good Government website for more details. Send us a note. Let us know what you are planning to do. lawyers@thirdact.org

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Attacks on law and lawyers https://thirdact.org/lawyers/2025/03/23/attacks-on-law-and-lawyers/ Sun, 23 Mar 2025 19:08:59 +0000 https://thirdact.org/lawyers/?p=320 We’ve been watching the developments in BigLaw. Here are a few stories that caught our attention.

  • The Legal System Under Siege. A coordinated strategy to discredit and intimidate legal actors who dare to challenge. Andrew Weissman (YouTube)
  • How the Administration is Scaring Big Law Firms into Submission. The Administration is intimidating one of the last check and balances against its power in this moment. (NYT via YouTube)
  • White House buoyed by capitulation of major law firm attacked by Administration. Paul, Weiss’s chair hung former partner out to dry after a series of legal attacks on US Legal community by president. (Guardian)

Put the “Act” in Third Act. Let us know what you are doing about this. (thirdactlawyers@thirdact.org) Every little bit helps.

  • How about e-mails to lawyers you know in BigLaw?
  • Post something on your LinkedIn page.
  • Recommend the NYT Daily episode to a non lawyer. It’s a good explainer of the ripple effect caused by these actions.

We view this as a non-partisan issue critical to the rule of law.

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UNDER CONSTRUCTION – tagged as news https://thirdact.org/lawyers/2025/03/23/under-construction/ Sun, 23 Mar 2025 16:16:19 +0000 https://thirdact.org/lawyers/?p=303 Real content coming soon! Please send us news that we can share on this website. thirdactlawyers@thirdact.org

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