Justice Sonia Sotomayor urges lawyers to ‘stand up’ amid Trump tumult

WASHINGTON — Liberal Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor urged lawyers Thursday night to “stand up” at a time when the profession is under attack from the Trump administration.

Speaking at a meeting hosted by the American Bar Association, the nation’s biggest legal group, she said it was an “act of solidarity” to appear at the event in Washington.

“In all of the uncertainty that exists at this moment, this is our time to stand up and be heard,” Sotomayor said.

“Right now we can’t lose the battles we are facing,” she added.

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The Trump administration has targeted the American Bar Association itself as part of a broader assault on lawyers.

Sotomayor gave what could be viewed as a pep talk for the assembled lawyers of the group’s Tort, Trial, and Insurance Practice Section.

“If you’re not used to fighting losing battles, don’t become a lawyer,” she said. “Our job is to stand for people who can’t do it themselves.”

“For me, being here with you is an act of solidarity,” she added, prompting enthusiastic applause from the audience of lawyers.

Sotomayor has spoken out several times in recent months. In March, she talked about the need of the courts to be “fearlessly independent.”

Chief Justice John Roberts also stressed the importance of independent courts in a public appearance in Buffalo, New York, on Wednesday.

In total, three of the nine justices have defended the judiciary since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term, the most outspoken being Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was more explicit in saying last week that the criticism and intimidation of individual judges were “designed to intimidate the judiciary.”

The Trump administration has assailed the American Bar Association in part for its support of diversity efforts, with the Justice Department, among other things, barring lawyers from participating in its events.