A new study is adding further evidence to claims of left-wing bias at the American Bar Association.
America First Legal reviewed every amicus brief filed by the ABA since April 2016 and found that the group always sided against President Trump. Furthermore, the bar association has never taken a conservative stance in any of its amicus briefs.
“AFL’s examination of the ABA’s amicus brief program, which includes 87 briefs filed from April 2016 to February 2026, reveals that 80% of the organization’s filings advocated for liberal or progressive outcomes,” the conservative legal group revealed in a statement.
The political advocacy strays from the bar association’s stated mission to intervene only in cases that directly concern the legal profession. The Amicus Curiae Committee’s own bylaws require briefs to have “special significance to lawyers or the legal profession.” However, the rules also allow submissions when there is a “compelling public interest,” meaning whatever the liberal interests of ABA leadership are.
America First Legal concluded “only 21% of the ABA’s briefs concerned matters directly related to the legal profession, the stated justification for the brief-writing program.”
The bar association could not hold back from weighing in on immigration enforcement cases, “which accounted for 15% of all briefs filed, more than any ABA mission-related category.”
As could be expected, the ABA also filed amicus briefs in support of LGBT issues, abortion, and restrictions on gun rights.
“The ABA is not a neutral arbiter and should be treated no differently than any other liberal advocacy group,” Gene Hamilton, president of America First Legal, stated.
For years, the American Bar Association has faced criticism for acting as a left-wing advocacy group rather than merely upholding legal standards.
In 2001, President George W. Bush stripped the bar association of its special privileges in evaluating judicial nominees. For 50 years, the ABA would receive advance notice of nominations from presidents, allowing it to be the first out of the gate with its analysis, as Ed Whelan wrote on his Substack.
President Obama restored this privilege, which President Trump then took away in his first term. Biden kept Trump’s policy in place.
Others have criticized the consequential role the American Bar plays in accrediting law schools, often having a monopoly in each state.
Legal Insurrection founder William Jacobson has argued for years that the group should lose its monopoly on accreditation.
“Legal education is about to undergo a revolutionary change, with the American Bar Association poised to mandate race-focused study as a prerequisite to graduating from law school,” Jacobson warned in 2022. “It’s another instance of woke ideology being forced on the nation, and may necessitate that states revisit the ABA’s government-granted near-monopoly accrediting power.”
[Featured image courtesy of White House]
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