Paul
Hastings
partner
Brad
Bondi
ran
a
star-crossed
campaign
for
DC
Bar
president
and
got
predictably
shellacked.
In
normal
times,
the
Biglaw
partner
running
a
campaign
focused
on
mundane
priorities
like
CLE
reform
would’ve
been
an
ideal
candidate.
But
his
sister
is
busy
flouting
the
Constitution
and
running
a
Justice
Department
in
open
conflict
with
the
nation’s
bar
associations.
Even
if
the
presidency
of
the
DC
Bar
doesn’t
carry
authority
over
the
institution’s
professional
disciplinary
function,
the
optics
of
putting
Pam
Bondi’s
brother
atop
the
entity
were
always
bad.
And
that’s
why
he
lost
roughly
91%-9%.
Like
a
proper
Biglaw
partner,
he
took
to
LinkedIn
to
post
a
concession
message.
The
post
begins
by
hitting
the
notes
that
we
all
came
to
expect
of
a
concession
—
at
least
before
January
6
—
noting
that
“although
I
did
not
prevail,
I
stand
with
a
heart
full
of
gratitude”
before
offering,
in
a
concluding
paragraph,
to
“recommit
to
a
Bar
that
lifts
us
all”
with
a
thank
you
to
supporters.
Had
he
limited
his
message
to
these
two
paragraphs,
he’d
have
a
nice
little
send
off
message.
But
he
didn’t.
Instead,
I
am
disgusted
by
how
rabid
partisans
lurched
this
election
into
the
political
gutter,
turning
a
professional
campaign
into
baseless
attacks,
identity
politics,
and
partisan
recrimination.
Never
before
has
a
DC
Bar
election
been
leveraged
along
partisan
lines
in
this
way,
an
explicit
call
for
members
to
vote
based
not
on
what’s
best
for
the
institution
but
according
to
their
political
affiliations.
Their
tactics,
which
included
smearing
me
over
my
family
and
peddling
conspiracies
about
my
intentions,
were
not
just
an
assault
on
my
integrity
but
on
the
D.C.
Bar’s
very
mission.
Oh,
man,
Brad.
Discretion
is
the
better
part
of
valor,
buddy.
It’s
posts
like
this
that
transform
what
should
be
an
Above
the
Law
story
about
lawyerly
inside
baseball
into
something
the
Huffington
Post
covers.
The
Streisand
Effect
is
real!
It
also
shows
that
Bondi
never
understood
the
fundamental
problem
with
his
candidacy.
Bar
associations
are
frontline
institutions
for
protecting
the
rule
of
law.
They’re
the
organs
issuing
condemnations
when
the
White
House
denigrates
legal
institutions
and
it’s
why
the
administration
floats
threats
against
bar
associations.
Put
aside
any
“conspiracies”
that
the
DC
Bar
president
could
shut
down
disciplinary
inquires
into
the
next
generation
of
Big(ger)
Lie
lawyers,
the
DC
Bar
president
is,
by
virtue
of
increasing
attacks
on
the
rule
of
law,
a
political
job
right
now.
And,
more
to
the
point,
it’s
a
political
job
that
requires
someone
who
will
not
hesitate
for
a
second
to
call
out
Pam
Bondi
for
trampling
on
due
process.
Or,
hell,
put
aside
proactively
criticizing
the
administration,
the
president
needs
to
be
able
to
stand
up
for
lawyers
when
the
White
House
inevitably
puts
the
bar
association
on
blast
for
disbarring
Rudy
or
whatever.
Like
it
or
not,
Trump
has
put
lawyers
on
the
other
side
of
the
“v”
and
the
presidency
race
of
any
bar
association
at
this
moment
is
about
electing
a
spokesperson
willing
to
condemn
the
administration.
Early
on
in
this
campaign,
we
suggested
that
Brad
Bondi’s
only
real
hope
in
this
race
was
to
say
he’s
always
been
a
brat
to
his
sister
and
won’t
stop
now.
That
he’s
still
characterizing
the
concept
of
calling
out
the
Justice
Department’s
lawlessness
as
“smearing”
his
family,
proves
he
never
grasped
the
issue.
But
by
giving
in
to
these
partisan
impulses,
we
risk
a
never-ending
cycle
of
political
strong-arming,
where
every
election
becomes
a
proxy
for
national
divides,
and
the
Bar’s
unity
is
fractured
beyond
repair.
I
caution
that
the
Bar
may
never
recover
from
this
politicization
—
a
tragedy
that
would
erode
its
ability
to
serve
as
a
home
for
all
members,
replacing
impartiality
with
ideological
litmus
tests
that
alienate
and
divide.
We’ve
seen
other
institutions
fall
to
this
temptation,
losing
their
credibility
and
purpose.
The
Bar
must
not
follow
that
path.
“We’ve
seen
other
institutions
fall
to
this
temptation”…
you
mean
like
rebranding
the
Justice
Department
as
Trump’s
personal
law
firm?
Yeah,
that’s
sort
of
how
the
DC
Bar
got
to
this
point.
It
might
suck,
but
as
long
as
“warrantless
roundups
to
sell
people
to
El
Salvadoran
slave
camps”
is
a
partisan
position,
then
a
bar
association
election
is
going
to
be
partisan.
Championing
the
“apolitical”
is
just
fancy
enabling.
It’s
about
shaming
gullible
people
to
take
themselves
out
of
the
game
when
the
stakes
are
at
their
highest.
A
better
take
might
be
that
the
bar
association
needs
to
be
at
the
forefront
of
pushing
back
against
an
administration
turning
the
rule
of
law
into
a
partisan
issue.
Suggesting
that
lawyers
should
withdraw
from
that
fight
to
hunker
down
as
docile
bullshit
receptacles
collecting
CLE
credits
and
comparing
books
of
business
over
cocktails
is,
in
fact,
very
political.
And
DC
Bar
members
seemed
to
agree
9-to-1.
It’s
one
thing
to
say
voters
missed
the
point
in
a
close
election,
but
when
it’s
a
decimation
it’s
probably
worth
asking
if
maybe
you’re
the
one
who
missed
the
key
point.
Brad
Bondi,
Pam
Bondi’s
Brother,
Loses
Election
And
Says
‘Rabid
Partisans’
Were
‘Smearing
Me’
[Huffington
Post]
Earlier:
Pam
Bondi’s
Brother
Decimated
In
D.C.
Bar
Race
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
Bluesky
if
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and
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sports
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Joe
also
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Managing
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Search.