Bar Associations
Assaults on rule of regulation will fail as a result of attorneys ‘are fierce’ and ‘very resourceful,’ says DC Bar president-elect
June 20, 2025, 11:17 am CDT
“Legal professionals are fighters, and judges will observe the regulation,” says Diane Seltzer, the president-elect of the D.C. Bar for the 2025-2026 time period. “We’re fierce; we care deeply about justice; and we’re very, very resourceful find methods to ensure we prevail.”
After U.S. Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi was sworn in earlier this yr, she reportedly started to purge profession Division of Justice attorneys. In April, she stated the DOJ would discover and prosecute “deranged” judges serving to immigrants keep away from arrest. Extra just lately, an ethics grievance submitted to the Florida Bar accused Bondi of pressuring DOJ attorneys to behave unethically.
Contemplating these issues, some eyebrows have been raised when her brother Brad Bondi, additionally a lawyer, entered the D.C. Bar elections to run for the president-elect spot. The June election had a report variety of voters, with greater than 38,000 ballots, in comparison with 7,500 within the final election. And Brad Bondi, the worldwide co-chair of Paul Hastings’ investigations and white-collar protection apply, misplaced to employment lawyer Diane Seltzer, who gained with greater than 90% of the vote.
Washington, D.C., bar members “unflinchingly locked arms to be sure that we’ve got a frontrunner who has the {qualifications} its president ought to have and whose values—No. 1 being preserving the rule of regulation—mirror their values,” Seltzer says.
In an announcement, Brad Bondi stated he was “disgusted by how rabid partisans lurched this election into the political gutter, turning an expert marketing campaign into baseless assaults, id politics and partisan recrimination.”
Defending the rule of regulation is Seltzer’s prime worth. She’s additionally had positions with the ABA. That features serving as co-chair of the ABA Litigation Part’s employment and labor relations committee and as co-chair of the part’s solo and small regulation agency committee. Moreover, she was a vice-chair and a co-chair of the Solo, Small Agency and Normal Observe Division’s litigation committee.
“The assaults will fail as a result of attorneys are fighters, and judges will observe the regulation,” she says. “We’re fierce; we care deeply about justice; and we’re very, very resourceful find methods to ensure we prevail.”
Seltzer begins her time period as president-elect of the D.C. Bar for the 2025-2026 time period July 1. She spoke with the ABA Journal in regards to the election and the problems going through attorneys right this moment.
The battle for D.C. Bar president acquired loads of media consideration for one thing that typically goes beneath the radar. What was your perspective on the media scrutiny?
To me, the election was about somebody (me) with many years of involvement and over 13 years of management expertise within the D.C. Bar operating in opposition to somebody who had no such expertise. So the actual subject was, what was finest for the bar and its members? The media scrutiny and curiosity made full sense to me. In fact, the media would care about why somebody carefully linked to the present administration would instantly vie for the highest place with the D.C. Bar as a result of the curiosity definitely appeared to come back out of nowhere. The media needed to discover the variations within the candidates and the platforms—and rightly so.
What was your first response if you discovered that Brad Bondi was additionally operating for D.C. Bar president?
My first response was, “Oh, what a humorous coincidence to have the identical final title because the lawyer normal.” After which I quickly discovered they have been siblings and thought, “OK, this might get attention-grabbing.”
You gained decisively. What was your response to the best way attorneys voted for you?
I used to be actually overjoyed. My youngsters have been there, and we simply began smiling and hugging once I acquired the decision.
What makes Washington, D.C., completely different from different areas the place attorneys apply?
Washington is a giant metropolis but in addition small city—is there wherever else within the nation the place there are such a lot of attorneys inside a number of sq. miles? I don’t assume so. And we’re very accustomed to one another, very collegial, very supportive of one another. Our bar is filled with shiny, energetic overachievers who consistently carry one another up.
What are your targets for the D.C. Bar throughout your time period as president?
I need to meet with our members and see what they want from the bar to really feel protected practising regulation and representing the shoppers they need to symbolize. I need to be sure our bar can provide the assist that our members want, so we will return to worrying about whether or not we missed a case in our temporary or ready sufficient for our trial, fairly than worrying if we’re going to get up to some type of retaliation for doing our jobs or submitting a lawsuit as a result of our consumer was denied due course of by the federal government. I’m an employment lawyer, and I’m seeing issues I’ve by no means seen in nearly 34 years of practising regulation. And never at all times in a great way. On a lighter word, I need to strengthen {our relationships} and collaborations with our voluntary and affinity bar associations. There’s a lot we will do collectively, and I need to capitalize on our synergy. It could possibly’t all be heavy. That’s not sustainable. e must take pleasure in being attorneys and benefit from the relationships we’ve got with different members of our career.
Write a letter to the editor, share a narrative tip or replace, or report an error.
