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You come from an area of the law.
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You made your living
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in an area of the law
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which is very technical.
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A lot of rules.
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The rules are very complicated.
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A lot of dotting of i's
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and crossing of T's.
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And there are many people
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who become lawyers,
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who find in technicality,
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an escape from morality
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that they can say, ‘Well,,
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I'm following the rules.
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The rules are written down.
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It's not my job to ask
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whether these rules are just.
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And it's not my job to worry
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too much about
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whether the outcome is just.
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I am using these elaborate
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system of rules
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for the benefit of my client.’
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And that—I wonder if that explains
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why so many in the—
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especially New York legal world—
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have been so vulnerable
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to the pressures
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we have seen in the second
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Trump presidency to
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pay ransom, to
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yield that
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they can rationalize,
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‘What, at we're following rules,’
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and you somehow—we're not
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crushed.
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Your moral sense
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was not crushed by that.
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I think it's something—
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there's a lot more.
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There's something
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a little bit different
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going on there.
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I don't think it's that people—
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I think a lot of Americans
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may feel, ‘Oh,, well,
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if it looks to be legal
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and people are saying it's legal,
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then it must be okay.’
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‘If the Trump administration says
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it's legal.’
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I think there is a lot of hiding
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behind the purported legality.
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I think that's
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absolutely the case.
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I think in the case of lawyers,
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I think most lawyers have been
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outraged
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by the Trump administration.
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And I think, you know,
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I think there's a limit to what
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people practicing
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law can do to speak out
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because clients don't necessarily
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like lawyers
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who are political activists
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and being,
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you know, doing something
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other than their own work.
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But,
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most lawyers are very,
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very adamant
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about the Trump
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administration and
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its lawlessness.