The July 4, 1776, Declaration of Independence of the 13 “united States of America” contains 27 charges against the king of Great Britain and Ireland, King George III. By my count, 16 of those charges accused the king of violations of the rule of law, in terms of his preventing and thwarting lawmaking and the proper and just administration of the law.
That so many of the Declaration’s charges focus on the rule of law should not be surprising. The “Founders” were greatly influenced by, among others, the philosopher John Locke. He wrote: “The end of the law is, not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom. For in all the states of created beings capable of laws, where there is no law there is no freedom.” —John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, p. 29 (1690).
So, given the self-evident centrality of the rule of law in civil society and the special roles of lawyers in the application of the law, one might reason that it is one of the lawyer’s core duties to stand up for the rule of law. But what does that mean?
Some laws are good. Some laws are poorly written or pointless. Some laws are bad. The very fact that we can and do easily use and understand the term “an unjust law” should tell us that the rule of law is more complicated and meaningful than unquestioningly enforcing the aggregation of all the extant laws and court decisions on the books.
For example, standing up for Jim Crow laws was not supporting the rule of law in the sense that I am using that term. The rule of law, to deserve the name, must include “Equal Justice Under the Law,” a motto emblazoned on the United States Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C., that is derived from the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.
So, the lawyer’s role in standing up for the rule of law should be more nuanced than simply being a cheerleader for existing law with no consideration of the content of the law’s character. The American Bar Association (ABA) to some degree has recognized that point in its Model Rules of Professional Conduct. “As a public citizen, a lawyer should seek improvement of the law, access to the legal system, the administration of justice and the quality of service rendered by the legal profession.” —American Bar Association, Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Preamble [6] (2026) (emphasis added).
Yet, at the same time, the lawyer, in their most common role, is the lawyer for a client.
How does one balance the role of the lawyer in relation to the rule of law as a privileged member of civil society who has a special function in preserving the rule of law with the job of the lawyer as counselor to and representative of a client? Very carefully. Under the ABA’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct: A lawyer is not required to accept every client or to take on every case, although there are circumstances in which the lawyer may be appointed to represent a client. When a lawyer does take on a client, the lawyer must abide by the client’s decisions concerning the objectives of the engagement; but the lawyer is free to give the client advice that reflects moral, economic, social, and political factors; and, the lawyer may withdraw from the representation if, among other things, “the client insists upon taking action that the lawyer considers repugnant or with which the lawyer has a fundamental disagreement”, provided that the lawyer sometimes needs permission of a tribunal to withdraw. (See, e.g., ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct 1.2, 1.3, 1.16, and 2.1.)
Let us celebrate Law Day and the rule of law, but let us also keep in mind that supporting the rule of law means something deeper than blind fidelity.