The United States of America is the country of focus for the 2026 Day of the Endangered Lawyer, which each year highlights serious threats against lawyers around the world for performing their professional duties.

The United States of America is the country of focus for the 2026 Day of the Endangered Lawyer, which each year highlights serious threats against lawyers around the world for performing their professional duties. On Thursday 22 January 2026 from 1600–1800 CET, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) and partners from the International Coalition for the Day of the Endangered Lawyer (the Coalition) invite you to join an online discussion focused on attacks on lawyers and the impact on legal independence.

Register here: http://bit.ly/3MNDsUk

Marked annually on 24 January, the Day of the Endangered Lawyer aims to serve as a call to action for governments, international institutions, civil society and the public to defend the legal profession and uphold the rule of law. In 2026, the Day will shine a spotlight on lawyers in the USA.

In 2025, attacks against lawyers in the USA escalated in an alarming way, with presidential executive orders targeting law firms, harassment, political reprisals and discriminatory measures attempting to undermine their independence. By selecting the USA as the focus country for 2026, the Coalition (comprised of around 40 lawyer organisations worldwide, including the IBAHRI) emphasises that even well-established legal systems are not immune to authoritarian rule.

Online press conference and report launch

The Coalition will launch its report, which documents a sustained, coordinated campaign of targeted attacks against lawyers and law firms, the judiciary, legal institutions and bar associations in the USA. There will also be a question-and-answer session with members of the press.

 

The programme

Opening remarks:

• Symone Gaasbeek-Wielinga, The Foundation of Day of the Endangered Lawyer
• Vânia Costa Ramos, President of the European Criminal Bar Association

Keynote speakers:

• Margaret Satterthwaite, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers
• Hon. Nancy Gertner, Judge of the US District Court of Massachusetts, 1994-2011; Senior Lecturer on Law, Harvard Law School

Presentation of the Coalition’s report:

• Nancy Hollander, Lawyers for the Rule of Law
• Catherine Morris, Lawyers Rights Watch Canada

Closing remarks:

• Roman Zavrsek, President of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE)

Moderator:

• ?. Ceren Uysal, European Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights (ELDH)

1. Related material:

   • IBA expresses deep concern over the ongoing erosion of the rule of law in the United States

2. The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), established in 1995 under Founding Honorary President Nelson Mandela, is an autonomous entity working to promote, protect and enforce human rights under a just rule of law, and to preserve the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession worldwide.
3. Find the IBAHRI on social media here:
   • x.com/IBAHRI
   • facebook.com/IBAhumanrights 
   • https://bsky.app/profile/ibahri.bsky.social
   • linkedin.com/in/iba-human-rights-institute/ 
4. The International Bar Association (IBA), the global voice of the legal profession, is the foremost organisation for international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. Established in 1947, shortly after the creation of the United Nations, with the aim of protecting and promoting the rule of law globally, the IBA was born out of the conviction that an organisation made up of the world’s bar associations could contribute to global stability and peace through the administration of justice.