That was then. Now, under pressure to ignore a range of ethics rules, a large number of Department of Justice lawyers have quit, opting to lose their jobs but save their careers. Between these departures and a purge of legal staff members seen as insufficiently loyal to the president’s agenda, the department has lost thousands of lawyers. It shows: Briefs are riddled with errors. Lawyers come to court grossly unprepared. Worst, court orders stand violated — in some cases, it seems, because there weren’t enough lawyers available to ensure they were carried out.