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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   32463 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of February 13, 2023

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Pacific Legal Foundation

They are an explicitly right-wing (by modern standards) organization. That the effect exists, however, should really be beyond dispute. Consider the case of the lawyers who won NYSRPA v. Bruen; essentially rebuked by their firm which said they wouldn't be taking such cases any more. They were forced to either leave the firm or stop representing NYSRPA. Winning a case at the Supreme Court does not normally carry a penalty; rather the opposite. Right-wing causes are deeply, deeply unpopular in much of the legal profession.

I don't deny what happened to Clement and Murphy was very odd and reprehensible, and I agree that getting booted from Kirkland & Ellis was definitely a set-back. Nevertheless, their new boutique firm seems to be doing well and growing fast.

Still curious about these questions:

  1. You said that lower courts tend to apply very different standards of discrimination based on race. Can you provide any examples?

  2. You said that very few attorneys are willing to take these cases lest they be subject to cancellation. What is it about the Pacific Legal Foundation that lets them thrive despite this spectre? What can other organizations do to replicate their resilience?

You said that lower courts tend to apply very different standards of discrimination based on race. Can you provide any examples?

Not off the top of my head. What I remember is that there are rules about proving that a policy caused particualized harm to the plaintiff which are enforced against white plaintiffs but not black, where any sort of anti-black policy is presumed harmful towards any blacks present.

You said that very few attorneys are willing to take these cases lest they be subject to cancellation. What is it about the Pacific Legal Foundation that lets them thrive despite this spectre?

They're in the enemy camp.

What can other organizations do to replicate their resilience?

The way things are you have to choose a side. You can either be a prestigious law firm which gets its pick of high-profile clients and top law students, or you can do law for conservative causes, not both. This will apply to the lawyers too; once you've worked for a conservative group you're going to be radioactive, at least for a while.

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