Donald Trump Made Americans Hate Lawyers Again

Former president of the United States, Donald Trump, faced overwhelming support, as well as hatred, from the people of America. Needless to say, he’s made a few changes to the legal field, thus affecting the way it’s perceived by legal professionals.

The law firms that supported Trump in his presidency thought they were making a fortune. While that was probably true, they might never see another high-paying client again.

Statistics

Above The Law surveyed over 150 attorneys from law firms of different sizes on the subject of the legal profession in terms of the Trump administration. The results were striking.

29,03% of attorneys said that the “reputation (of the legal profession) was harmed greatly” due to the “legal challenges to Trump administration”. Another 29,03% believed these actions had “no effect” on the reputation of the legal profession.

67,80% of attorneys agreed that “reputation (of the legal profession) was harmed greatly” by “the actions of lawyers in the Trump administration”.

Similarly, 58,33% of attorneys said that firms’ reputations were “harmed greatly” “through advising on Trump administration efforts”.

47,37% believed the criticism the law firms that supported Trump received was “entirely justified”.

And 75,86% stated that knowing a firm represented the Trump administration would affect their decision to join the firm “negatively”.

66,67% said that “a firm’s role in challenging the Trump administration” would “positively” affect their decision to join the firm.

Generally speaking, the results of the polls from Above The Law show that Trump’s influence on the field of law has been negative. An overwhelming percentage of attorneys claimed that they would not work with a firm that chose to support the Trump administration, while they would like to work with a firm that opposed it.

Can the damage done to the legal profession be reversed?

Trump’s administration brought around many new regulations for the people of the United States of America. The Trump travel ban ruling, the order to terminate DACA, refusing to welcome refugees, and keeping parents away from their children are just a few examples of Trump’s cruel rulings.

Trump did an excellent job at discrediting the work of lawyers in the eyes of the public and showed that anyone can be bought; it’s all a matter of money and power. It is unclear how these revelations will affect the law firms that represented the Trump administration in the future. At the moment, it appears that supporting Donald Trump is a job not worth any money.

Though supporters of the Trump administration may prefer to work with firms that showed support for Trump, the situation is very different with attorneys. The vast majority of attorneys claimed they would prefer to join a firm that opposed Trump’s rulings. We can only speculate about the effect these statistics could have on the law firms that are under fire at the moment.

Not all hope is lost. In June of 2020, the Supreme Court overturned Trump’s termination of DACA, claiming the act was done “in violation of the APA”. In January of 2021, President Joe Biden revoked the Trump travel ban. Perhaps the same could be done for the reputation of the legal profession.

Conclusion

Donald Trump’s reputation precedes him. Anyone who chooses to work with Trump or support his work will have to bear the consequences. Make of that what you will, but the statistics paint a very clear picture of the situation.

In the 90s, Trump might’ve been the entry ticket into any establishment. Now, namedropping Donald Trump is more like dropping a bomb, in the field of law.