Algernon Ward, who recently passed, possessed the eulogy virtues of character and integrity. I previously wrote the following about how he handled the loss of the legal challenge of his one-vote squeaker election loss in 2022 to Jennifer Williams for the North Ward Council. There was “no nastiness , no hyperbole, no denying the election results.” Ward’s willingness to gracefully accept the court ruling against him is the exact opposite of how President Trump has responded to decisions of our courts that he disagrees with. Ward’s conduct showed respect for the court and reinforced their authority. The President’s responses have demeaned the judicial system and undermined its legitimacy. Ward’s approach put the larger public interest above his own personal interest. Ward’s actions were the opposite of the recent action taken by Brad Karp, the chairman of the prestigious multinational law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton Garrison (Paul, Weiss) who cut a deal with President Trump to avert the consequence of an outrageously arbitrary White House executive order that according to Karp “could have easily have destroyed our firm and put us out of business.” The executive order, which appears to be clearly unconstitutional, threatened the suspension of the security clearance of Paul, Weiss attorneys, barred them from federal buildings and included other provisions that would have rendered the firm incapable of representing clients before government agencies. It cited as a reason for the action the fact that a former Paul, Weiss partner, Mark Pomerantz, had been a key player in the investigation by the Manhattan district attorney’s office of the president’s hush-money payments to Stormy Daniel. Instead of fighting the order in the courts, like Perkins Coe LLP, another large law firm similarly targeted by the president, Karp, in order to protect the firm’s bottom line agreed to provide $40 million in pro bono work to Trump-supported causes and will “not adopt, use, or pursue any DEI policies” in exchange for having the order lifted. To put it bluntly, Karp disgracefully capitulated to a political shakedown. Let me begin by acknowledging that fighting the executive order could have had devastating financial consequences to Paul, Weiss, as many of the firm’s corporate clients with business involving federal agencies would have abandoned the firm during the time the matter was under litigation. I agree that being “persona non-grata” with the Trump administration would not be good for business or for the firm’s clients. Further I agree that Karp could be right when he wrote in his memo to the PW Community that “It was very likely that our firm would not be able to survive a protracted dispute with the Administration.” What I don’t agree with is the holier than thou, self-serving language in the memo that “the resolution we reached with the Administration will have no effect on our work and our shared culture and values. The core of who we are and what we stand for is and will remain unchanged. To that end, we will continue our proud, century-long legacy of courageously standing up for fundamental rights and liberties, for fairness in the justice system…. That commitment is woven into our DNA; it was and will never be subject to negotiation or compromise.” That is complete and utter hogwash – Paul, Weiss abandoned the moral high-ground for perceived, and perhaps actual, self-preservation. The issue was more than just the survival of Paul, Weiss because the executive order was not just an attack on our judicial system. It was an attack on the rights of every American and the integrity of the legal system. If our nation’s most prestigious law firms are afraid to draw swords with the administration in power because they are fearful of retribution, then the rule-of-law, a bedrock foundational principle of our democracy, is in real trouble. The notion of punishing a lawyer for representing a client or cause the administration does not favor is reprehensible and reeks of what goes on in countries ruled by dictators. John W. Keker, one of the nation’s top trial lawyers, who led the prosecution of Oliver North, framed the issue as follows: “Our liberties depend on lawyers’ willingness to represent unpopular people and causes, including on matters adverse to the Federal Government. An attack on lawyers who perform this work is inexcusable and despicable. Our profession owes every client zealous legal representation without fear of retribution, regardless of their political affiliation.” The caving in of Paul, Weiss, as well as Skadden, another prestigious law firm, Columbia University, and the Disney-owned network ABC to President Trump’s authoritarian incursions does not bode well for our democracy. The surrender by the rich, powerful, and talented sends a message to the rest of us that resistance is futile. This moment calls for courage, coalition building, and collective action by law firms, universities, and media companies, not capitulation. Brad Karp’s decision to capitulate was reminiscent of the appeasement foreign policy employed by Neville Chamberlain the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. In hope of avoiding war with Germany, Chamberlain negotiated and signed the Munich Agreement, ceding the German-speaking Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Nazi Germany. Nowadays, the vast majority of historians acknowledge that appeasement is a bad idea, as it invariably emboldens aggressors, who see it as weakness. Karp’s action will, no doubt, encourage President Trump to more aggressively bully others. I’ve recently been watching the Netflix series “Zero Day” in which the character, former President Mullen, is faced with a moral dilemma: Does he protect the country, as the fictional President urges him to do, by concealing how deep the cyber attack conspiracy he is charged with investigating goes? Or does he become a “truth-teller” at great personal peril? Mullen opts to speak the truth regardless of the personal consequences. America desperately needs someone or some firms, with eulogy virtues, to stand-up to our President and not cowardly abandon their principles for the sake of profits. Irwin Stoolmacher is president of the Stoolmacher Consulting Group, a fundraising and strategic planning firm that works with nonprofit agencies that serve the truly needy among us.  ...read more read less