We write as lawyers, judges, legal professionals, legal technologists, and civic stakeholders with a simple affirmation: We support the rule of law.
Lawyers, judges, and government officials all take an oath to support and defend the constitution. We write at a moment when constitutional rights and legal norms, long considered stable, are being challenged. Today, our profession must speak clearly and firmly.
If the rule of law is ignored, then legal advice loses meaning. Legal tech loses value. If the powerful can disregard the law with impunity, then our legal analyses, compliance programs, and contract drafting become performative exercises: accurate but irrelevant.
We support fundamental rights and liberties. We support the Constitution (e.g., First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, Fifth Amendment, Second Amendment) and other laws. For example, when government actors use force (e.g., deadly force), the public deserves an impartial, complete, and transparent investigation — examining not only the conduct of those subjected to force, but also the decisions, training, tactics, and judgment of those who exercise force. Impartial inquiries must analyze potential civil-rights violations.
Governments must always respect constitutional rights in real time: (1) speech, assembly, and petition; (2) security against unreasonable searches and seizures; (3) lawful possession and carriage where protected; and (4) all other civil rights that constrain governmental power. Court orders (e.g., injunctions, judgments, mandates) on fundamental rights should be supported by sound judicial reasoning, and those judicial decisions should be followed.
The rule of law supports businesses. For generations, the world has treated the United States as a reliable place to build, invest, and resolve disputes because law — not transient leadership, not political convenience, not “might makes right” — provides stable business pathways. Stable rules, not political whims. Democracies don’t legitimate force by outcome; democracies legitimate power by process, principles, and accountability. Businesses rely on those rule-of-law principles. Without the rule of law, businesses lose value. And the world becomes poorer.
We, the undersigned, support and defend the rule of law. We support impartial investigations wherever governmental actions raise credible legal and constitutional questions. And we insist on accountability and judicial independence as a business value and a societal imperative. We cross geographic and political lines, supporting our common ideals. Because without the rule of law, our lives — our work, our institutions, and our society — all lose value.
SIGNATORIES (affiliation listed only for identification purposes)
Damien Riehl
Pablo Arredondo
Kara Peterson — Descrybe
Horace Wu
Bob Ambrogi — LawNext Media Inc.
Greg Lambert
Joe Patrice
Stephanie Wilkins
Oz Benamram
Connie Brenton
Daniel Katz
Michael Bommarito
James J. Sandman
Jordan Furlong — Law21
Michael Lissner — Executive Director, Free Law Project
Ansel Halliburton — Board Member, Free Law Project
Jenifer Whiston — Director of Philanthropy, Free Law Project
Maya Markovich — Justice Technology Association
Andrew Shulman — Thomson Reuters, AI for Justice Program
Jason Barnwell
Sarah Glassmeyer
Joe Green
Sateesh Nori
Nicole Bradick
Jacqueline Schafer
Stephen Poor — Seyfarth
Patrick Palace — Palace Law
Jordan Couch — Palace Law
Carolyn Elefant — Law Offices of Carolyn Elefant
Megan Ma
Jonathan Petts — CEO, Upsolve
Daniel Schwarcz — University of Minnesota
Nicole Morris — Emory University
Ken Crutchfield — Spring Forward Consulting
Debbie Foster — CEO, Affinity Consulting
Stephanie Everett — Lawyerist
Brad Blickstein — CEO, Blickstein Group
Sam Glover
Ron Friedmann
Maddie Buck
Michael Okerlund
Marc Lauritsen
Jennifer Leonard
Kevin Klein
David Colarusso
Prashant Dubey
Michael Lissner
Nicole Black
Quinten Steenhuis
Sam Harden
Haley Altman
Tom Martin
Ross Guberman
Léo Murgel
Gyi Tsakalakis — AttorneySync
Richard DiBona
Tyler Alexander
Stephanie Fox
Denise Fitzgerald
Sarah Gold
Justin Robinson
Laurel Cederberg
Bonnie Rose Hough
Jasmin Ziegler
Mark I Unger
Ken Friedman
Ericka Bohnel
Steven Uhrich
Osler Peterson
Dr. Michelle Blaeser
Kris Fulkerson
Rodney Mazure
Kristina R. Sracic
Josiah Dykstra
Nam Nguyen
Tricia Schweitzer
Kurt Riehl
Renee Riehl
Greg Siskind
Dyane O'Leary
Jason Enders
John Tredennick
Margeaux Green — Washington State Bar Association
Aaron Shockley
Christer Cederberg
Elizabeth Meeks
David Gray
Marisa Huber
Molly VandeVoort
Tara Waters
Milena Higgins
Michael Quartararo
Thomas J. Gallitano
Cheryl Morse
Ray Brescia
Andrew Wilkowske
Joseph Polta
Salah Al Din Deban
Carol Johnson
Andrew Wilkowske
Ryan Kutter
Maria Collado
Jackson Atkins
Mary Louise Mitterhoff
Teresa Schweitzer
Amy Mushall
Colin S. Levy
Ryan Trauman
Kali Vleck
Ben Schorr
Chase Hertel
Paige Riehl
William Childs
Kevin Britt
Tanya Kramer
Mary Warner
Cynthia Harles
Janelle Malrick
Brita Schemmel
Susan Zemlin
Alicia Kropelnicki
Kevin Colangelo
LeighAnne Thompson
Rebecca Fordon
Isaak Anderson
Paul Drutz-Hannahs
Bobbi Basile
Dominic Riehl
Trey Shalley
Paige Fishman
Elisabeth Davis
Katherine M Pearson
Eileen A. Scallen — UCLA School of Law
Sara Lord
Dana Miner
Amanda Brown — Lagniappe Law Lab
Nathanael Player
Ann Iijima
Jennifer Carter
David J. Dreyer
Shari Neece
Karen J. Carr
Betsy Munnell
Jerry Levine
Swagata Banerjee
Jessica Frank
Charlie Uniman — Legal Tech Startup Focus
James Wilt
Sara Hilden
Katie DeBord
Megan Riehl
Bruce Cahan
Gail Wechsler
Kathleen MBooth
Rebecca Pressman
Kris Caplinger
Chlece Walker-Neal-Murray — Chicago Advocate Legal, NFP
Dorothy Rogers
Erin Oberdorfer
Michele Carney
April Plott
Emma Kelly
Rachel Migliore
Rick Merrill
Kate Crowley Richardson
Maegan Korte
Andre Davison
Tara Daisy
Andrew Terrett
Virginia Roberts
Marc Stone
Theresa (Terrie) M. Lewis
Edward Wilson
Ryan McKeen — Best Era, LLC
Ulysses Jaen
Jon D. Fish
Jenny Holman — CEO, Clockwork
Morgan Kruse
Sanjay Manocha
Mark Heftler
Robert Duncan
Swati Solanki
wayne moore
Demetrios Karis
Jaclyn Carver
Stephanie Goutos
Bobbi Price
Margaret K Erickson
Tracy Youngblom
Matthew J. Bady
Kristin White
Andrew Sawyer
Otto Handin
Thomas Sturgis
Jamie Giani — Third Branch Solutions
Clinton Noyes Hamilton
Edward Kirk
Jesse Klee
Jay D. Gardner, J.D.
Adrienne Fischer
Lindsey Neill
Tom Krause — Thomas Krause Disability Law
Jessie Burchfield
Margaret S. DeWind
Cate Giordano
Aaron Katzel
Jessica Grace — Grace Law Offices, LLC
Phil Brown
Lisa Helminiak
Alia Luria — ARLA Strategies
Lynn Tubalinal
Katherine Raney
Nivine K. Zakhari
Donna M. Medrek
Chelsey Lambert
Neil Rumbak
Scott B Seymann
Lisa Colpoys
Matt Boutet
Richard Lavaty
Suneel Arora
Craig Shank
Cheryl Aufdemberge
Ben Glass — BenGlassLaw
Patrick DiDomenico
Esosa Ohonba
Jennifer M. Rohleder
Mark Williams
Rita Alister
Bruce Andrew Cahoon
Jerry Lawson — New Ideas Legal Tech, LLC
Owen McGrann
Mindy Yocum — Yocum Law/JusticeMobile
Brett Landis
Leanne Fuith
Kelly Jaegee
David Neumeyer
Susheela Varky
Tyler Haslam
Beth D. Wade
Mia Bonardi
Jeff Wheeler
Amy Boley
Marcus Vaden
Michelle Chaffee
Steven H. Jacobs
Charity Anastasio
Hunter G. Cavell — Cavell Law, LLC
Carrie McLain
Evan Loosen
Nell Brimmer
Robert Williams
Charlie Amiot
Robert Kost — CEO, LegalScout
Shawn Kamesch
Joung W. Hwang
Nancy Jeng — Billables AI
Trish Kiefer
Kelli Proia
Mike Commons — Indiana Legal Help, Inc.
Don Bauermeister
Lydia Flocchini
Debbie Foster
Tony Albrecht
Alexander Brewsaugh
Kevin OKeefe
Daniela Alexander — CEO, LegalType
Debra Catherine Green
Dennis Solis
Jason Horst
Josh Lazar — CEO, TechThinkTank
Eileen DeSorgher
Casey Helbling — CTO, Software for Good, GBC
Janet Hernandez
Jason Horst — Managing Partner, Horst Legal Counsel, PC
Nadine Ezzie
Hayley Green
Sarah A. Sutherland — Parallax Information Consulting Ltd.
Ginny Satterstrom
Nicole Stone
Cayley Balser
Kristen Fjeldstad Johns — Flatiron Law Group
Chris Steinway
Jennifer Dall
April Campbell
Zachary Foxx
Shawn Swearingen
Warren Agin
Mishel Horta
W. Marshall Prettyman
Jerry Wagner — TechThinkTank
Adam Wells
M. David Johnson
Connor Sinclair
Michael Schlinkert
Kelly Emerton
Christina Wojcik
Tim Corcoran — Corcoran Consulting Group
Rob Nolan
Juliana Saxberg — Lex Artia Professional Corporation
Leigh Cohemn
Hana Kim
Alton Accola
Robin Kim — LegalMatch
Hemanth Puttaswamy
Joe Patz Vineyard — Wolters Kluwer
Bill McCormick
Gloria Lee
Jonathan Nichols
Bill Bice
Melissa "Rogo" Rogozinski — RPC Strategies, LLC
Chris Hamilton
Erica Smeltzer
Jared Correia — Red Cave Law Firm Consulting
Josie Johnson — Blickstein Group
Adam Licht
Hilary Bowman
Sarah T. Gordon
Heidi Michelle Foreman
Kenny Gary — LIMELIGHT
Jessica Duncan
Jeannine Zito
John Quentin Heywood — American University
Christian Brown
Emily C. Brown — Elevate Justice U.S. Immigration Law
David S. Bartolone
Natalie S. T. Netzel
Thomas Simon Menard
Sam Davenport
Shellie Reid
Adria Notari — Notari Law
Sam Davenport
Kevin M Maloney, Esq.
Matthew Green — Juris Digital
Rick Johnson
David Andrews — Novelty Hill IP
Tara Stepenberg
Donna Herbel
Kyliegh Riehl
Eric Patrick
Kathryn Shaffer
Mary Kuennen
Kent Olson
Brian Huffman
Dorothy Culle
Nicole Upshur, VSB
Richard Finkelman
Jenny Villier
Austin Johnso
Matt Sunderman
Cara Hawkinson
Tammy Wilkinson
Kristin “Teddie” Lehmann
Steven Lerner
Jill M. Johnson
Laurie Daley
Jay McAllister — Paragon Tech
Kirk Simmons
Michael Dolan
Josh Sangster
Tina Zedginidze
Samuel Berbano
Rosa Martinez
Stuart Lickteig
Susan H. Stephan
Leonard Park
Tracy Marback
Laura Jeffords Greenberg
Ben Wightwick
Allison Nussbaum
Magdalena Fish
Robert McKay
Kecia Jalalizadeh
Toby Franklin
Steve VanTassel
Ellen Johanson
G. Patrick Flanagan
Isabel Diaz Barroso Esq
Jennifer Thomas — Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Iron LLP
Karin Ciano
Robin Carberry
MIchael Loonan
Kelly McSweeney