In this course, students will study legal tools to strengthen and defend democratic government in the United States, and particularly, the role that lawyers can play in their communities in this regard. We will explore institutions, like the rule of law and free press that are intended to promote freedom, through readings that engage core themes. Active participation in each week's class discussion is a central requirement of the seminar. Students must fully engage with the reading and prepare in advanced to discuss the nuances of scholarly and legal materials we will review, along with current opinion pieces and even fiction. Each student will be assigned to lead one in-class discussion.