Most Americans will never file a bar complaint or write an amicus brief. That does not mean the fight over the rule of law happens somewhere above your pay grade. It happens in state bar disciplinary offices, in federal district courts, in rulemaking dockets, in city council chambers, and in the ordinary decision a lawyer makes about whether to speak up or stay quiet.
Lawyers Defending American Democracy exists to make sure lawyers speak up. Here is what the organization is, what it has actually accomplished, where its work is contested, and what you can do about any of it.
The Short Version: Who Is LDAD?
Lawyers Defending American Democracy (LDAD) is a national coalition of lawyers organized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Founded in 2019, its stated mission is to hold lawyers and public officials accountable to the rule of law and to organize the legal profession to defend democratic institutions.
The organization operates through five core lines of effort:
- Ethics complaints against attorneys who violate the Rules of Professional Conduct.
- Amicus briefs in cases involving separation of powers, due process, and judicial independence.
- Open letters and calls to action signed by lawyers nationwide.
- Organizing lawyers, law students, and state chapters through its Meeting the Moment initiative.
- Public education through toolkits, talking points, webinars, and op-eds.
LDAD runs on roughly a quarter million dollars a year and one part-time operations manager. Almost everything else is volunteer labor from retired judges, former attorneys general, law professors, and practicing lawyers.
Where It Came From and Who Leads It
In October 2018, Scott Harshbarger wrote an essay for the fiftieth reunion of Harvard Law School's Class of 1968. His argument was blunt. He stated that the leaders of the legal profession were sitting on their hands while the rule of law was being undermined. Harshbarger is a former Middlesex District Attorney, a two-term Massachusetts Attorney General, and a past national president of Common Cause.
A classmate, Gershon Ratner, suggested they build something. Ratner had spent his career as a public interest lawyer, including serving as Associate General Counsel for Litigation at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and as lead founder of the District of Columbia Appleseed Center for Law and Justice.
They designed LDAD as a bottom-up organization, deliberately outside the institutional constraints that keep bar associations and big firms cautious. In January 2019, LDAD launched with an open letter to the President and Congress.
Lauren Stiller Rikleen serves as executive director. She is a former president of the Boston Bar Association, an American Bar Association Margaret Brent Award recipient, and the editor of Her Honor: Stories of Challenge and Triumph from Women Judges.
The Eight Pillars of Democracy
In 2019, LDAD defined what it means by democracy. Every action the organization takes traces back to one of these eight pillars:
- The rule of law.
- Institutional checks and balances.
- The separation of powers.
- The independence, integrity, and role of the media.
- The independence, integrity, competence, and non-partisanship of the judiciary.
- Truthfulness of public officials.
- The independence and non-partisanship of federal criminal justice and intelligence agencies, including the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
- Civil discourse and fair treatment, including respect for the rights and dignity of all individuals.
This framework gives observers a clear standard to hold LDAD to, the same way LDAD holds others to their professional oaths.
The Track Record: Wins and Limits
Advocacy groups issue many statements, but fewer produce verifiable outcomes. LDAD has a concrete track record of wins and ongoing challenges.
Notable Ethics and Disciplinary Actions
- Rudolph Giuliani: LDAD filed a comprehensive ethics complaint with the New York bar in January 2021, co-signed by 7,500 people. His law license was suspended that June.
- Kenneth Chesebro: LDAD filed a complaint with the New York Grievance Committee in October 2022. Chesebro was disbarred in New York in June 2025. The court panel wrote that his conduct struck at the heart of the administration of justice.
- Jeffrey Clark: LDAD filed an extensive complaint in 2021 over Clark's post-election effort to pressure Department of Justice leadership. In July 2025, the District of Columbia Board of Professional Responsibility recommended disbarment. The matter is currently before the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.
Key Amicus and Court Victories
- Voter registration: LDAD filed an amicus brief in LULAC v. Executive Office of the President, challenging an executive order that would have required documentary proof of citizenship on the federal voter registration form. The district court held the requirement violated separation of powers and permanently enjoined it.
- National Guard deployment: LDAD joined the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law and the National Institute for Military Justice on an amicus brief in Trump v. Newsom. The district court found a Posse Comitatus Act violation and later ordered the National Guard returned to state control. The case is on appeal.
- Congressional oversight of Immigration and Customs Enforcement: LDAD filed a brief supporting twelve members of Congress challenging an Immigration and Customs Enforcement policy requiring seven days of notice before detention facility visits. The court enjoined the policy.
- Federal judges sued by the executive branch: LDAD and its Maryland chapter, joined by retired Judge J. Michael Luttig, filed a brief when the administration sued the District of Maryland's chief judge and clerk. The court dismissed the lawsuit on separation of powers grounds.
Where the Work Runs Into Walls
An honest assessment includes institutional losses and friction points.
The Florida Bar refused to investigate Attorney General Pam Bondi, taking the position that it does not discipline sitting officers appointed under the United States Constitution while they are in office. LDAD and other petitioners sought a writ of mandamus from the Florida Supreme Court. In October 2025, the court rejected the petition on standing grounds. LDAD's assessment is that the ruling effectively immunizes the country's highest-ranking lawyer from state bar discipline while in office.
In New York, LDAD joined the Democracy Defenders Fund and 101 former federal and state judges in an ethics complaint against Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. The Grievance Committee's chief attorney declined to open an investigation. LDAD and the Democracy Defenders Fund filed a formal request for reconsideration in July 2026.
At the Supreme Court, LDAD filed a brief in Trump v. Slaughter arguing that Congress has always had the power to create independent multimember commissions. The decision went the other way, handing presidents sweeping new authority over independent agencies.
Accountability through professional discipline is slow, and it depends on institutions that are themselves under pressure. LDAD does not hide this reality.
Is LDAD Nonpartisan?
LDAD describes itself as nonpartisan and non-political, and its board reflects that claim in part. The board includes a retired Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court, a former American Bar Association president, a retired Covington and Burling partner, a retired Oracle general counsel, a past president of the Rhode Island Bar Association, and a former Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate who ran as an independent.
Critics see it differently. InfluenceWatch, a project of the Capital Research Center, describes LDAD as a left-of-center advocacy organization. The observable pattern supports part of that critique because, since 2019, nearly all of LDAD's ethics complaints and amicus filings have targeted conduct by Trump administration officials and allied lawyers.
LDAD's answer is that this reflects where the conduct is, not where its politics lie. The organization argues that adherence to constitutional principles is an obligation of the oath rather than a policy preference, and that treating it as partisan is itself the core problem. Observers can weigh these facts by reading the public filings and deciding whether the legal analysis holds up.
What Lawyers Can Do
If you hold a bar card, LDAD has built an accessible on-ramp for professional involvement:
- Sign the Democracy Commitment: Created in June 2021, it is a blueprint for lawyers to protect democratic institutions, support free and fair elections, and promote civil discourse. It takes two minutes to complete.
- Join Meeting the Moment: Launched in 2025, this is LDAD's organizing arm. It builds state-level networks and rapid response teams while supplying volunteers with talking points, toolkits, editorials, and social content.
- Write: LDAD volunteers have placed op-eds and letters in outlets like the New York Daily News, the Portland Press Herald, the San Antonio Express-News, the Times Union, The Fulcrum, and the New York Times letters page.
- Use the Guardians of Justice Toolkit: This resource is built for lawyers considering elected office or public appointments. It sets out ten fundamental principles for lawyers seeking government roles.
- Push Your Bar Association: LDAD has published research on why state bars can and should act to protect the rule of law. Sitting on a bar committee offers leverage that most lawyers never utilize.
- Start a Chapter: Maryland served as the pilot state chapter. Law students can also launch campus chapters by reaching out directly to student organizers.
What Everyone Else Can Do
You do not need a law degree to participate in strengthening democratic infrastructure:
- Subscribe to Action Alerts: These are rapid response tools equipped with specific instructions for civic engagement, covering topics from federal research funding to voting rights.
- File Public Comments on Proposed Rules: This is one of the most underused civic tools in America. Agencies are legally required to consider substantive comments from private citizens.
- Show up Locally: Commissions, boards, and councils make decisions with minimal public participation. Public comment periods sit half empty in most municipalities.
- Vote in Down-Ballot Elections: Judicial retention races, city attorney positions, district attorney elections, and school boards decide who administers justice where you live.
- Talk to Your Community: Use educational materials to discuss what due process and separation of powers mean in daily life during civic club meetings or family discussions.
How Change Actually Happens
The theory of change matters because it explains why LDAD operates the way it does. Lawyers hold a licensed monopoly, and every one of them swore an oath to the Constitution to secure that license. Professional discipline is one of the few accountability mechanisms operating independently of elections and congressional majorities.
Furthermore, amicus briefs from credible institutional voices give judges the legal architecture required to rule effectively. Finally, public accountability creates reputational costs for firms and individuals who otherwise remain silent.
Institutions do not defend themselves. They are defended by people who show up when it is inconvenient, who read filings before forming opinions, and who understand that the rule of law is vital infrastructure.
To learn more about the work, explore the resources, or get involved today, visit LDAD Take Action.
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