The intensifying flap over Justice Department lawyers who have advocated for Guantanamo Bay detainees is spilling over to Big Law, where some firm leaders are fighting back against the criticism.
The Justice Department in the past couple of weeks has come under fire from a conservative group and Republican lawmakers for hiring lawyers who represented Guantanamo Bay detainees while in private practice. The controversy ramped up after the Justice Department refused to name the lawyers. Then the conservative group Keep America Safe posted a YouTube video questioning the allegiance of the DOJ lawyers and giving the attorneys a name -- "The Al Qaeda Seven."
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"From the perspective of our firm, providing representation for unpopular causes is a long and noble tradition in the law, and that kind of criticism is not going to affect our firm's commitment to that cause," said Brian Brooks, managing partner of O'Melveny & Myers' Washington office. "If the private bar doesn't step up and show that kind of courage, then I think our whole system of justice is in question."
[snip]Thomas Milch, chair of Arnold & Porter, said he is proud to work with lawyers who have advocated on behalf of detainees.
"I really do salute the private lawyers who stepped up to represent the Guantanamo detainees," Milch said. "It's an act in the best traditions of the profession, and I salute even more the lawyers who then went in to the government."
Read the entire piece. It clearly delineates what it is to be an attorney and provide proper representation, even pro bono, to all that require representation ... even the bad guys.
UPDATE I - 3/9/10:
Senior senators on both sides of the aisle leveled heavy criticism Tuesday against a controversial ad put forth by Liz Cheney and William Kristol, which labeled Justice Department lawyers as the "al Qaeda 7."
The ad, paid for and produced by the group Keep American Safe, referred to the U.S. Justice Department as the "Department of Jihad," and called out Attorney General Eric Holder for hiring but not revealing the names of several attorneys who had previously worked to defend terrorism suspects. More than a dozen Bush administration era legal officials have already condemned the ad.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a member of the Senate Armed Services and Judiciary Committees, told The Cable Tuesday that the Cheney-Kristol ad was inappropriate and unfairly demonized DOJ lawyers for doing a noble public service by defending unpopular suspects.
"I've been a military lawyer for almost 30 years, I represented people as a defense attorney in the military that were charged with some pretty horrific acts, and I gave them my all," said Graham. "This system of justice that we're so proud of in America requires the unpopular to have an advocate and every time a defense lawyer fights to make the government do their job, that defense lawyer has made us all safer."
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