After the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) pledged to target the Atlanta-based law firm King & Spalding for representing the Congress in the defense of DOMA, the firm buckled and dropped the case barely a week after House Speaker Boehner hired them. “In reviewing this assignment further, I determined that the process used for vetting this engagement was inadequate,” wrote Chairman Robert Hays.

Thankfully, the partner at the law firm had more conviction than the firm itself. Paul Clement, the lawyer assigned to the case and former solicitor general under George W. Bush, resigned so that he could continue the case. “I resign out of the firmly held belief that a representation should not be abandoned because the client’s legal position is … unpopular in certain quarters.”

Rep. Dan Lundgren (R-CA), member of the House Administration Committee, expressed his gratitude to Clement, saying he admires “his unwavering commitment to his clients and dedication to uphold the law—qualities that appear inconsequential at King & Spalding, where politics and profit now appear to come first…”