Losing My Perspicacity March 24, 2025

Good Morning and Happy Monday. Thanks for starting your day with me.

There’s a famous line from William Shakespeare’s Henry IV: Part II where the character called “Dick the Butcher” suggests to a raucous crowd, “First thing we do is, let’s kill all the lawyers!”

We used to talk about this line in law school. Did it mean that Elizabethan England viewed lawyers like much of America does — as money-grubbing ambulance chasers who make a living off human misery? That was the light Republicans tried to cast infamous plaintiffs’ lawyers like former Senator John Edwards (D-NC) in when trying to sell tort reform to the American people. “The price of everything is going up because of the lawyers who keep suing everyone!”

To this end, the most misreported case in American history is probably the infamous McDonald’s hot coffee case. I won’t go into the whole thing now, but you can read about it here. And the thing is, once you look into a lot of these high-award cases against corporations, you realize that the facts are more complicated, and the damage awards far more reasonable, than you’ve been told by parties with vested interests.

Take the John Edwards hot tub injury lawsuit. I clearly remember Republicans being apoplectic about the damage award in that case, using it over and over again to cast Edwards as a slimy personal injury attorney who managed to secure what was then the largest jury verdict ever in North Carolina for his client. But the facts of the case are much more upsetting than what the public was told, and led to a permanent injury for a five-year-old who was doing what five-year-olds do. Again, I won’t get into the gruesome facts here, but you can read the whole story via the link above. Ultimately, tort reform was more about insulating corporations from responsibility than protecting the public from frivolous lawsuits.

Or, our law school professors asked us, was there another reason to get rid of the lawyers? Is the problem that everyone hates lawyers? Or is it that lawyers are the ones who can tell the public what their rights are? Are lawyers dangerous to the ruling class because they know the law and, therefore, can call out the monarchy and aristocracy on their exploitation of the working class?

It’s a question I’ve been thinking about recently, as the Trump administration has turned its sights from the federal agencies he hopes to dismantle to the judges and lawyers trying to stop him.

In the last few weeks, the Department of Justice has called for the impeachment of two federal judges: James Boasberg, who is hearing the ACLU’s case regarding the three planes of deportees sent to El Salvador, and Judge Ana Reyes, who made the DOJ lawyers look positively stupid trying to justify the removal of trans service members from the US military. In both cases, the complaints are the same: Upholding the law, refusing to roll over for the Trump administration, and exposing the government’s shockingly atrocious legal basis for any of this. Articles of impeachment for Boasberg have already been drawn up by Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX), charging him with abuse of power. As for Reyes, she more or less called DOJ lawyers in open court, so you know the Trumpies are going to come for her, as well.

The generic complaint against both judges is “abuse of power,” which the Trump administration uses as a catch-all for “getting in our way.” Another, more accurate way to say it is that these judges are upholding the laws of our land, while the DOJ is trying to use the Constitution as more of a friendly suggestion than the foundational document of our democracy.

And judges aren’t the only members of the legal community Trump is laser-focused on. In early March, Trump issued a “Presidential Action” accusing Big Law firm Perkins Coie of “discrimination” (against white men) via its DEI program, stripped PC attorneys of their security clearances, and mandated the termination of any federal contracts that resulted in money flowing to PC. Of course, the real reason Trump is obsessed with PC is because they worked with Hilary Clinton’s 2016 campaign.

(Full disclosure: While she’s moving to another job, my sister has worked for Perkins Coie for the last several years. )

Federal Judge Beryl Howell (who just last week denied a TRO to stop DOGE from dismantling the US Institute for Peace) almost immediately granted PC a nationwide temporary restraining order to stop Trump from making good on his threats. Of course, the DOJ immediately moved for a substitution of judge on the grounds that Howell is “insufficiently impartial,” saying she has not kept her “disdain for President Trump secret.” I’ve been in front of a lot of judges, and keeping their disdain for stupid legal arguments under wraps is not generally something they do, though some are more decorous about it than others.

Perkins Coie is challenging Trump in court, engaging the powerful firm Williams & Connolly to represent them in court. And Williams & Connolly came out swinging, with no less than 14 attorneys (all with major street cred in the federal courts) signing the initial complaint. It was a show of force rarely seen in legal filings.

But not all firms targeted by Trump have the same backbone PC does. Paul Weiss, another prominent firm attacked by the President, has been excoriated by the legal community for essentially rolling over and showing Trump its belly. 

Paul Weiss was likely targeted by Trump because of its longstanding ties to Democrats and its reputation as a firm that fights for civil rights. For example, PW recently filed a lawsuit to enforce the $2.8 million judgment against The Proud Boys. They also brought suit against Patriot Front for violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act for painting over a mural of tennis legend Arthur Ashe in Battery Park.

The capitulation of PW sent shockwaves through the legal community.

In a new decree, Trump is not only going after large law firms with the resources to take him on in federal court, he’s also going after individual lawyers. In a Friday night memo, the President ordered the DOJ to seek sanctions, including disbarment, against attorneys who oppose the DOJ.

Given the government’s petitions against federal judges who rule against Trump, “frivolous, unreasonable, and vexatious litigation against the United States” is anything the DOJ says it is. Seeking to force lawyers who stand up to an increasingly authoritarian regime out of the courts is not only terrifying and unconstitutional but deeply immoral and anti-American. Worse, this edict can be applied to Big Law attorneys, but also your local public aid attorney who dares challenge Trump. Most attorneys are comfortable, but few are rich (I know, it surprised me, too). Very few have the funds to fight back against the federal government. Especially not the attorneys who typically take on cases from our nation’s most vulnerable communities. At a time when immigrants, the trans community, and so many others are fixed under Sauron’s gaze, we can ill afford fewer attorneys.

The members of Trump’s inner circle who sought to impose some guardrails on him during his first term are long gone. Congressional Republicans have essentially abdicated their role as a co-equal branch of government to the Trump administration, and Congressional Democrats, with few exceptions, can’t seem to coordinate an adequate response to meet the moment. That leaves lawyers and the courts as the last bastion of checks and balances between Donald Trump’s worst instincts and the American people.

I never thought I would write this in my lifetime, but we’re down to two branches of government. The judiciary must hold.

Gov. Janet Mills lives rent-free in Trump’s head

When last we heard from Maine Governor Janet Mills, she was laughing in Trump’s face and being a general badass, standing up for trans kids at a national governor’s meeting at the White House. Since then, Trump has sicced no less than six federal agencies on Maine, all of which are performing “investigations” of the state.

Now, Trump is demanding an “apology” from Mills.

Trump posted that on Truth Social at 6:30 am on a Saturday morning, in case you’re wondering what one of the most powerful men in the world is thinking about in the wee hours of the dawn. And, of course, it wouldn’t be a proper Trump post without at least one falsehood in it. Maine’s Secretary of State, Shana Bellows, wrote on Bluesky, “Can confirm “State of Maine” hasn’t apologized. (As the official keeper of all state records and guardian of the seal ;)).”

Men are too emotional to be in politics.

This asshole was fired, thank God

I was both appalled and glad to see this video go viral over the weekend.

It’s very disturbing that the announcers just kept praising Northville varsity coach Jim Zullo while all this was happening. Shout out to whoever #24 is for sticking up for a teammate.

When I was playing high school soccer, we used to french braid our hair and tuck it down the backs of our jerseys while we played, because an opponent grabbing it and yanking your head back was a likely outcome. Let me tell you, it hurts to have your neck jerked like that when you’re not expecting it. I don’t know what kind of a world Jim Zullo comes from, but my dad would have been down the bleachers with his hand around that guy’s throat if he ever touched me like that. These are children. There is no excuse for being physical with them.

Zullo apologized on Sunday but was terminated by the school.

Leave JuJu Watkins alone

I was pretty disappointed to see this story from Athlon Sports, whatever that is. The headline is “JuJu Watkins’ Behavior During the NCAA Tournament is Turning Heads.” So what has USC’s Watkins done? Is she aggressively fouling players like Duke’s Grayson Allen? Is she arguing with her coach like we’ve seen from so many men’s players? Is she fighting with her teammates? What, pray tell, is this “behavior” that is so concerning?

Turns out, she looked bored on the bench.

This piece was, predictably, written by a man. The only thing it’s missing is noting that Watkins would be prettier if she smiled more.

The High Note

Each Day, I do my best to leave you with a smile on your face, a song in your heart, and the will to fight another day.

I wish I could find a better video, but this will have to do. Here’s Rachel Dratch being an absolute disaster to start this podcast with Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler. It reminds me that we should all go easier on ourselves. What you hate about yourself is probably part of why your friends adore you.

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Survive and advance out there today! Don’t let the bastards get you down.