Principles Under Pressure: Former DOJ Lawyers on Power, Ethics, and Democracy
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The Deborah L. Rhode Center and the Neukom Center present this panel of former Department of Justice lawyers, Greg Rosen, Liz Oyer, and Stacey Young, for a candid conversation with Professor Pam Karlan about professional responsibility inside the federal government during periods of intense political strain. Drawing on their experiences serving—and leaving—the Department during the Trump administration, the panelists will reflect on the ethical obligations of government lawyers, the limits of institutional independence, and the moments when legal principle collides with political power. The discussion will also examine broader questions about democratic resilience, the role of lawyers in safeguarding the rule of law, and what these experiences mean for the next generation of public servants.
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Liz Oyer is an experienced attorney and justice advocate. From April 2022 to March 2025, Liz served as United States Pardon Attorney. Liz’s service spanned two presidential administrations, before she was abruptly fired in March, as reported by the New York Times. Prior to joining the Justice Department, Liz served for 10 years as a Federal Public Defender, representing clients facing all types of federal criminal charges. After her departure from the Justice Department, Liz created Lawyer Oyer LLC, an independent media company producing multimedia content to educate the public about threats to the rule of law, focusing on issues related to the courts, the criminal justice system, and presidential power. The Lawyer Oyer platform includes Substack, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and more, with over a million followers. Liz is a regular contributing guest on MSNBC, CNN, and other programs and podcasts, and a frequently quoted expert in national news publications. Liz was recently featured on 60 Minutes and in The New York Times Magazine. Liz has written for The New York Times, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, the Washington Post, and other publications.Liz started her legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable Stanley Marcus of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. From there, Liz worked for the law firm Mayer Brown LLP, where she became a partner and practiced civil and criminal litigation before pivoting to public service. She graduated from Harvard Law School (2004) and Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service (2001). |
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Greg Rosen is a Shareholder with Rogers Joseph O’Donnell PC. He focuses on litigation and criminal investigations, specializing in white collar matters. Prior to joining the firm in June 2025, Mr. Rosen was an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, within the U.S. Department of Justice for 10 years. During his tenure with the office, Greg served in several trial sections, helping to litigate and manage complex cases, ranging from narcotics trafficking, firearms trafficking, violent crimes, fraud, and sexual exploitation crimes. Before leaving DOJ, Greg last served as the Chief of the Capitol Siege Section, Breach and Assault Unit, devoted to prosecuting crimes arising out of the January 6, 2021 breach of the US Capitol. He also served as the Chief of the Federal Major Crimes Section, and the Deputy Chief of the Federal Major Crimes and Violent Crimes and Narcotics Trafficking Section of the office. As a supervisor, Mr. Rosen has managed hundreds of prosecutors and legal support personnel. Greg served as a liaison and coordinator for firearms-related crimes, opioid-related investigations, and helped create training programs throughout the Criminal Division. While with the US Attorney’s Office, he has also personally tried approximately twenty-five jury trials to verdict. Before joining DOJ, Greg also served as an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney in Loudoun County, Virginia, helping to prosecute cases ranging from minor traffic infractions to murder. Throughout his tenure in Loudoun, he tried approximately thirty jury trials to verdict. Greg graduated from The George Washington University in 2008, with a Bachelor of Arts in History, and from The George Washington University Law School in 2011, with a Juris Doctor. Greg is a sad Mets fan; eternally hopeful that 2026 will be their year. |
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Stacey Young is the executive director of Justice Connection – a network of thousands of DOJ alumni that provides direct support to current employees, and speaks out against this administration’s attacks on the department and the rule of law. She founded the organization after spending 18 years at the Justice Department, where she was a senior lawyer in the Civil Division and later the Civil Rights Division. In 2016 she founded the DOJ Gender Equality Network, which she also ran. Due to intimidation from this administration, she shuttered the organization on the day she resigned. Stacey began her legal career as an Equal Justice Works fellow at the Women’s Law Project, and later worked as a health law fellow at the National Women’s Law Center. She graduated from the Emory University School of Law and Binghamton University. |
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A productive scholar and an award-winning teacher, Pamela S. Karlan is co-director of the school’s Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, where students litigate live cases before the Court. One of the nation’s leading experts on voting and the political process, she has served as a commissioner on the California Fair Political Practices Commission, an assistant counsel and cooperating attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and (twice) as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (where she received the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service – the department’s highest award for employee performance – as part of the team responsible for implementing the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Windsor). Professor Karlan is the co-author of leading casebooks on constitutional law, constitutional litigation, and the law of democracy, as well as numerous scholarly articles. She is co-reporter on the American Law Institute’s forthcoming Restatement on Constitutional Torts. Before joining the Stanford Law School faculty in 1998, she was a professor of law at the University of Virginia School of Law and served as a law clerk to Justice Harry A. Blackmun of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Abraham D. Sofaer of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Karlan is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Law Institute. |



