As contentious as Americans have always been, the one thing that unified them was the boast that “this is a nation of laws.” Founded on the principles of equality and liberty, the American rule of law enabled a free and equal people to grow fearless. Confident that only impartial and rational laws could limit their hopes and ambitions, Americans created the most successful democracy and prosperous nation in global history.
But the rule of law is now under attack, and, shockingly, lawyers are helping to lead the assault. Blinded by partisan infighting and a chase for money, too many leading attorneys are shamefully attacking judges, spouting factually baseless and irrational arguments, enabling or capitulating to nakedly unconstitutional executive orders, and much more. Such lawyers have taken American democracy to a knife’s edge.
The Lawyer’s Oath: How a Pledge to the Constitution Can Preserve Democracy argues that the destruction on display today cannot be laid at the feet of a few rogue lawyers who lost their way. It is instead the culmination of a crisis that has been building for decades in the legal profession as too many lawyers forgot that their foremost duty is to the law and not to any one client or to money or fame.
More than any other class of Americans, it was lawyers who gave life to the fragile idea we call the rule of law. From drafting the Constitution and all other founding documents, to fighting thousands of constitutional issues case by case for centuries, lawyers helped build our constitutional culture. Applying habits of idealism, rationality, and professionalism to each of their cases, lawyers championed the dignity of every person, ensuring that only fair and impartial law would determine human rights and obligations.
Lawyers who take their oath to the Constitution seriously know they are inextricably connected to this remarkable legacy. That oath defines the very identity of the American lawyer as the keeper of the Constitution and its rule of law.
And that oath has the power to reverse the current, disastrous trajectory of the legal profession.
About the Author
Tai Park is a nationally recognized trial lawyer specializing in white collar criminal defense and commercial litigation.
A fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, Mr. Park is a former federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. In that office, he served as chief of the Narcotics Unit and Senior Trial Counsel in the Securities & Commodities Fraud Task Force. In private practice, he has been a litigation partner at leading international law firms and also founded boutique firms specializing in white collar defense. Mr. Park is chair of the Magistrate Judge Merit Selection Panel for the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York. He has also been appointed by multiple city and state agencies to serve as the Integrity Monitor for an organization under monitorship.
Mr. Park has published writings on the ways in which U.S. laws influence American democracy and constitutional culture. His law review articles have sharply criticized vague, judge-made laws that were not the product of democratic legislation and that threaten individual agency. One such article was cited to the Supreme Court, and the Court unanimously struck down the judicial doctrine challenged by Mr. Park.
In addition to his writings, Mr. Park has regularly appeared on panels to discuss professional ethics and federal criminal laws.
SEE: Writings and Thought Leadership
Mr. Park received his B.A. in philosophy from Columbia University and his J.D. from New York University School of Law. He lives in Westchester County, New York, with his wife. They have three children who are now in college or graduate schools.
