Canadian Lawyer

16 M A R C H 2 0 1 7 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m To do this takes cojones. Each of these law firms has clients involved with the gun industry and sympathetic to the National Rifle Association. Any advocacy for gun control will offend the many hardline sup- porters of the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment ("A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.") Presi- dent Donald Trump, who has promised to defend the Second Amendment, may not find the coalition amusing. He may even tweet about it. But, as Brad S. Karp, chair- man of Paul Weiss, said after the June 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, "It is in our DNA to act when we see injustice." The gun control coalition intends to pursue multi-pronged lines of attack. It will challenge state laws "that arguably force citizens and local governments to allow guns to be carried on their properties, including schools, airports, shopping malls and bars." It will attack the restriction on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from releasing data about the use of firearms in crimes. It will pursue the gun industry for antitrust violations on the basis that some gun companies have joined forces to limit the development of safety technology. These are only some of the initiatives the coalition is planning. This transcendent and unexpected devel- opment will go a long way toward restor- ing faith in the tarnished reputation of the U.S. legal profession. What about Canada? It's hard to find evidence that the legal establishment of this country is prepared to lay it on the line in a co-ordinated effort to promote the public good. Scattered and anemic pro bono programs and the occasional L E G A L E T H I C S O P I N I O N @philipslayton HUAN TRAN Building a legal coalition A recent example in the U.S. shows the legal profession can and should fight for big causes By Philip Slayton ow can the legal profession mobilize for the public good? Lawyers shouldn't just fight for particular and partisan interests. Sometimes, they should struggle for the big things, for overarching principles. Instead of fighting each other, they should stand together and fight for the people. It's an ethical imperative. Pollyannaish, you think? Never going to happen? You might be wrong about that if a surprising recent event in the United States is any- thing to go by. The New York Times reported in December that several of the biggest and most powerful law firms in America have formed a coalition to fight for gun control. The group includes such pillars of the legal establishment as Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, Covington & Burling LLP, Dentons, O'Melveny & Myers LLP, Hogan Lovells LLP and Arnold & Porter LLP. The Times said the coalition was "the first time in decades that rival corporate law firms, more accustomed to beating back regulation than championing it, have joined forces to file litigation nation- wide around such a polarizing social issue as guns. The effort harks back to the civil rights era, when President John F. Kennedy summoned 250 top lawyers to the White House and enlisted their help in fighting segregation." H THE COALITION IDEA MIGHT BE A WHOLE NEW WAY OF SIMULTANEOUSLY ADDRESSING MANY OF THE BIG PROBLEMS THAT PLAGUE US.

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