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Reuters
16-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
New York bill targets free legal work pledged to Trump
May 16 (Reuters) - Democratic New York state lawmakers have introduced legislation that would bar law firms in the state from requiring employees to do free legal work performed as part of an agreement the firm made with the Trump administration. The proposed bill would also prohibit such work from counting toward New York's pro bono requirements for lawyers to practice law in the state. New York State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assemblymember Micah Lasher in a Friday statement said the measure is "in response to President Trump's coercive and unlawful extortion of private law firms," leading to agreements between some firms and the White House. Nine major firms have reached deals with President Donald Trump to devote a total of $940 million in pro bono legal work to causes the administration favors, such as supporting veterans or combating antisemitism. Many of them have defended the deals as necessary to protect their business from executive orders or from a probe of their hiring practices. The agreements came after Trump issued orders penalizing prominent firms he accused of "weaponizing" the legal system against him and his allies. Four law firms are suing the administration over the orders against them. New lawyers applying for admission to the New York bar are required to complete at least 50 hours of pro bono work, and lawyers must report their pro bono hours when they file to renew their membership to the state bar, the lawmakers said. The new legislation, if passed, would exempt any pro bono hours stemming from an agreement between a firm and the federal government "under which the federal government specifies the recipient or recipients or type or types or nature of such legal services," according to the current text of the measure. "This disgraceful discrimination undermines the very pro-bono initiatives President Trump has championed to ensure justice for all," White House spokesman Harrison Fields said in a statement. Fields said the bill would restrict affordable legal representation for New Yorkers "simply for being veterans or Jewish." The proposed bill does not say lawyers cannot receive pro bono credit for specific types of cases unless they are undertaken "pursuant" to Trump's law firm deals. The legislation is expected to be considered by the state Senate Judiciary Committee next week, according to Hoylman-Sigal, who said it is expected to be approved. A spokesperson for New York Governor Kathy Hochul said her office does not comment on pending legislation. Law firms that have struck deals with the Trump administration have faced criticism over the agreements from lawyers, Democratic U.S. lawmakers and others, in part due to the pro bono pledges. Trump last month directed the U.S. Justice Department to mobilize law firms to defend police officers unjustly accused of misconduct free of charge. The president has also made repeated comments about "using" the firms that settled with him for particular projects, including working on trade deals. Neither the administration nor the law firms have so far disclosed any pro bono assignments stemming from the agreements.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Blue state Democrats spearhead bills to crack down on campus antisemitism
More than a year after anti-Israel agitators kicked off a nationwide effort to bring their antisemitic message to college campuses across the U.S., New York Democrats are moving to crack down on schools that do nothing to counter the hate, according to a new report. Several new bills in both houses of the Democrat-controlled state legislature aim to accomplish the goal by making it easier to sue colleges that don't protect students from hate-based discrimination and attacks and requiring schools to hire an administrator to make sure they meet the requirements of federal civil rights law. The move comes days after the Trump administration's Department of Education announced an investigation into five prominent universities for allowing anti-Jewish hate to fester, including New York's Columbia University. Columbia University Mulls Arrest Power For Campus Cops After Anti-israel Protests Disrupted School One bill is the ACCESS Act, which gives students more grounds to sue schools that fail to protect their civil rights, according to the New York Post. "The ACCESS Act is intended to push colleges and universities to be more proactive in preventing and responding to incidents of harassment and discrimination — not just antisemitism, which we have seen more and more since the horrific attacks of Oct. 7, but hate and bias of all kinds," state Rep. Micah Lasher, a Manhattan Democrat and frequent Trump critic who sponsored the bill, told the paper. Read On The Fox News App Lasher over the weekend shared an infographic on X that purported 18-year-old voters are five times as likely to have an "unfavorable opinion of Jewish people" as their counterparts over 65. Jewish students reported harassment and unfair treatment amid a series of anti-Israel protests since Hamas terrorists attacked the U.S. ally in October 2023, killing hundreds, sexually assaulting victims and abducting hostages. Video shows protesters handing out fliers with antisemitic imagery, interrupting classes about Jewish history, blocking Jewish students on campus and more. At Columbia University last year, keffiyeh-clad activists smashed their way into a campus building and barricaded themselves inside, leading to dozens of arrests. Manhattan's Ivy League school is one of five universities the Trump administration's Department of Education said was under investigation last week for allegedly allowing unchecked harassment of Jewish students on campus. "Too many universities have tolerated widespread antisemitic harassment and the illegal encampments that paralyzed campus life last year, driving Jewish life and religious expression underground. The Biden Administration's toothless resolution agreements did shamefully little to hold those institutions accountable," Craig Trainor, the Department of Education's acting assistant secretary for civil rights, said in a statement. Columbia faced sharp criticism over its response to the agitators, who set up camp on a lawn and were accused of harassing Jewish students. Some faculty members defended the group and even blocked other students and members of the press from entering their encampment. In July, Columbia removed three senior staff members accused of sharing antisemitic text messages. The school's handling of campus agitators led some of its billionaire donors to publicly question their financial support for the school. Click Here For The Fox News App A second bill would require every school in the state to have a new administrator in charge of overseeing compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VI allows victims to file a complaint against any entity that receives federal funds but fails to protect individuals from discrimination based on race, color or national article source: Blue state Democrats spearhead bills to crack down on campus antisemitism
