Holding Lawyers to Account Part 2 | Opinion

September 14, 2021 | Tom Rogers and Timothy E. Wirth | Newsweek

A month before last November’s election, we wrote a column imploring state bars overseeing the licensing of lawyers to make clear to all attorneys involved in the election process not to file frivolous claims intended to undermine the integrity of election results. We were quite certain that would be what lawyers acting on behalf of former President Donald Trump would attempt to do as part of an overall strategy to overturn President Joe Biden‘s legitimate election victory.

We stated:

“Lawyers are members of state bars, where they have sworn to uphold the Constitution, not undermine it. State bar associations are charged with upholding the integrity of the profession, which often includes bringing disciplinary action against lawyers whose unprofessional or unethical conduct would otherwise compromise that integrity. Trump’s campaign lawyers should not get a free pass to act as Trump’s agents in an attempt to reverse the election results. … What are state bar associations going to do to forewarn campaign attorneys that the filing of frivolous actions … will be subject to scrutiny, potentially warranting disciplinary actions?”

Unfortunately, our concerns were remarkably prescient. Also unfortunately, state bar associations and disciplinary boards did nothing to heed our warning and forewarn campaign lawyers that their actions would be heavily scrutinized. As a result, a plethora of court actions brought by attorneys for the Trump campaign were launched that were not only frivolous, but ludicrous on their face, lacking any supporting evidence, and were summarily thrown out of court almost everywhere they were filed. …