The Monroe H. Freedman Institute for the Study of Legal Ethics presents
The Role of Lawyers in Defending Democracy Thursday-Friday, September 26-27, 2024 Hofstra Law School, Room 308 121 Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY 11549 Lawyers have always played a crucial role in preserving democracy in the United States. In recent years, that role has been increasingly questioned, threatened, and manipulated. At this Fall’s Freedman Institute Symposium, leading practitioners and experts will convene to examine multiple aspects of lawyers’ responsibilities to preserve democracy. The program will include three panels, each exploring an aspect of the moral and ethical duties of lawyers when democracy is under attack, and what changes can or should be made to how the legal profession sees its obligation to defend democracy. On September 26, the first panel will look at recent threats to independent prosecutorial decision-making, particularly in the context of enforcement of post-Dobbs state laws regarding the right to an abortion. On September 27, the second panel will examine the role of the legal profession in holding lawyers responsible for actions undermining democracy, focusing on the ethical improprieties of the many lawyers who pursued false claims of election interference after the 2020 election, and the efforts to hold them responsible. The third panel, also on September 27, will address the role of lawyers in exposing governmental abuses, including commentary on the