A crisis of lawyering: DOJ must act now

If Shakespeare had been born Jack Smith, then perhaps in "Henry VI, Part 2," the character Dick the Butcher would not have said, "First, let's kill all the lawyers," but rather, "First, let's name them all unindicted co-conspirators."

Smith's Aug. 1 indictment of Donald Trump lists six – six! — co-conspirators, and all have been identified as attorneys. This is a dark stain on the profession, but it should not completely blot out the light.

Two sides of the story of lawyers and American democracy have long co-existed.