The slow march of US justice to the galleys by Lucas Durand

There was a time when law firms held a semblance of integrity, when justice, for all its flaws, at least pretended to be blind. And yet, here we are ...Paul, Weiss, a law firm once heralded for its independent streak, now kneeling before the gilded throne of Donald Trump. If this is the opening act, what’s next? A judiciary-wide capitulation, where local judges to Supreme Court justices collectively hand democracy a life sentence to the galleys?

Make no mistake: This is not just another instance of a powerful entity playing both sides for political survival. This is an omen. When the legal establishment, a supposed bulwark against authoritarianism, succumbs to the gravitational pull of a man who treats subpoenas like junk mail and the Constitution like a napkin, it signals a far deeper rot. It suggests that the justice system, the very institution tasked with holding power accountable, is now adjusting its sails to the shifting winds of demagoguery.

We’ve seen the warning signs before. Local judges, once guardians of law at the community level, now hedge their rulings, fearful of political retaliation. Prosecutors pull punches when cases involve powerful figures. Supreme Court justices, cushioned by lifetime appointments, sip fine wine with billionaires who have vested interests in their decisions. The very notion of impartiality is eroding, replaced by a cynical game where justice is served only if it does not inconvenience the powerful.

Paul, Weiss’s decision to bend the knee is not an isolated event, it is symptomatic of a legal culture that increasingly sees power as the only law worth respecting. And when law firms lead the way, the courts will follow. The pattern is clear: first, lawyers begin justifying the unjustifiable, making corruption sound like strategy. Then, the judges begin ruling in ways that subtly shift precedent, ensuring that what was once illegal is now merely ‘controversial.’ By the time the highest court weighs in, the transformation is complete: the system that once protected democracy now ensures its subjugation.

What comes next? A Supreme Court ruling that executive power is absolute? Lower courts dismissing cases against authoritarian overreach with a wink and a nod? Or perhaps even the complete normalization of legal doublespeak, where words like ‘justice’ and ‘due process’ are twisted to fit the needs of those in power? The grim reality is that once the legal system stops resisting tyranny, it starts enabling it.

The galleys await, and democracy, for all its resilience, cannot row forever. If justice is not rescued from the clutches of political expediency, if the legal profession does not find its spine, then the next time power demands loyalty, the answer will not be silence, it will be enthusiastic obedience. And when that day comes, justice will not just be blind. It will be shackled, gagged, and forced to serve the very forces it was meant to restrain.