In a new Daily Journal op-ed, Kabateck LLP managing partner Shant Karnikian and founding partner Brian Kabateck draw a sharp line between legitimate criticism of court decisions and the kind of personal, delegitimizing attacks on judges that have become increasingly common — and increasingly normalized.
Writing in the wake of President Trump’s reaction to the Supreme Court’s tariff ruling — which included calling the decision “an embarrassment,” accusing Justices of disloyalty, and suggesting their rulings shamed their families — Karnikian and Kabateck argue that lawyers cannot stay silent.
“Courts do not command armies, control budgets or enforce laws through force,” they write. “Their authority depends on something far more fragile: public trust.”
Their piece is a call to the legal profession to hold the line — not as a political statement, but as a professional one. The rule of law only works if the institutions enforcing it retain credibility. And credibility, once lost, is nearly impossible to restore.
Read the full op-ed in the Daily Journal(subscription required).