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Click on the links below to browse previous Deanpage postings. Fall '06 | Summer '06 | Spring '06
Fall '06
November 27, 2006 - During the last week of October 2006, the Law Center’s Institute of International Economic Law (IIEL) convened the first annual WTO Law & Policy Academy. The Academy, an intensive week-long program, brought a diverse group of nearly sixty lawyers and other professionals from eleven different countries to campus. Participants came from government agencies, NGOs, law firms, corporations and academia. The Academy provides training to those from developing countries and transition economies as well as from developed countries. Specific topics covered included:
WTO institutional issues and dispute settlement, basic market access principles and exceptions, agriculture, import restrictions & trade remedy rules, subsidies, services,
intellectual property protection, regional trade agreements, accession of new members,
and other current and future challenges facing the world trading system (such as developing country concerns, environment, labor, health, investment and competition policy issues). A full program agenda is available at: The Academy is chaired by University Professor and IIEL Director John H. Jackson and Adjunct Professor Jane Bradley, IIEL Deputy Director. The Academy faculty of international trade law experts includes academics, lawyers and former government officials, who have represented parties before the WTO or helped negotiate or implement the treaties. For a number of years the Institute has offered a Certificate in WTO Studies to Georgetown Law students who meet certain course requirements. Recognizing that practicing lawyers and government officials have limited time to undertake professional development training, the Law Center can provide through the Academy an opportunity for detailed examination of the WTO in a concentrated fashion. The success of the program has permitted us to schedule a 2007 Academy, tentatively slated for October 29-November 2, 2007.
Legal Writing at Georgetown Law November 1, 2006 – In an earlier post I had mentioned changes to the Law Center’s Legal Writing Program. I wanted to fill you in on some of these changes and our goal for the program. We have had for many years a very strong Legal Research & Writing program at the Law Center with a talented and dedicated faculty. Last year, I appointed a committee to look at the program and to give advice on maintaining its strengths and any possible improvements that could be made. Their proposals were approved by the Faculty last spring. The most significant aspect of the changes is a dramatic reduction in the size of first year Legal Research and Writing classes. Up until now, Legal Research and Writing professors have lectured to an entire section, with law fellows (2nd and 3rd year students) teaching small sections. Once the changes are fully in place, Legal Research and Writing professors will teach classes of approximately 30 students. This will permit much closer supervision of student writing and a far better learning experience. To accomplish these changes, we have hired three new faculty members for the Legal Research and Writing Program:
To complete the reforms several more professors will be hired this year. In addition to revising and strengthening our Legal Research and Writing Program, we have also been looking at ways to provide additional practice and training for our graduates and other practitioners. To that end, we have just formed a new Legal Writing Academy as a part of our Continuing Legal Education department. The Legal Writing Academy will build upon the strengths of our Legal Research & Writing Programs and our CLE programs to serve as a national training resource for lawyers from diverse backgrounds: private firms, government, corporations, and non-profit organizations. The program curriculum will be developed to appeal to attorneys at all levels in their careers. An advisory board representing several prominent law firms, government agencies, and academia has been established to assist with curriculum development. The Academy will provide traditional seminars at the Law Center and in-house training sessions at firms or agencies.
October 6, 2006 - I have written before about the rule of law and the importance of an independent judiciary. These crucial components of the American form of government—indeed, of any decent system of governance—were central in two significant events at the Law Center last week. On Monday, September 25th, the Georgetown Law Forum sponsored a panel discussion on Guantánamo and the Rule of Law: Military Tribunals and the Geneva Conventions. We heard from Philip Zelikow, Counselor to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice; Professor Neal Katyal; Colonel Lawrence J. Morris, Chief of the United States Army Trial Defense Service; and Deborah Pearlstein, Human Rights First. The panelists focused on the legislation hammered out between the Administration and (primarily) Republican Senators Graham, McCain, and Warner establishing rules for military commissions and compliance with the Geneva Conventions. (The legislation was necessitated by Professor Katyal’s victory in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld last Spring, which held that the military commissions established by the President after September 11 violated federal and international law.) I have deep concerns about some aspects of the legislation, particularly the provisions that strip courts of jurisdiction to hear claims that the Conventions have been violated. Judicial review of executive branch conduct is a hallmark of both the rule of law and the separation of powers that serves to protect liberty. Furthermore, provisions in the law that treat U.S. citizens and non-citizens differently are likely to be subject to constitutional attack. At the same time, the fact that Congress has finally taken up its constitutional responsibility to fashion rules for the military commissions, interrogations and detention is a welcome development. The idea of the rule of law means more than complying with the rules of law. It is an aspirational notion, one that evokes images of a just system of laws administered justly. As noted, courts play an indispensable role in supporting the rule of law in mature democracies. This is not to say, of course, that courts are immune from error, prejudice and sometimes even corruption. Neither can they be immune from criticism. But as was explored at the Conference on a Fair and Independent Judiciary held at the Law Center on September 28-29, recent attacks on the judiciary threaten the independence of judges and thereby threaten our constitutional system of checks and balances. The Conference was co-chaired by former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Justice Stephen Breyer and co-sponsored by the American Law Institute. Six sitting members of the Supreme Court attended the Conference, as did the Attorney General and Solicitor General of the United States, state and federal judges, former members of Congress, business leaders, members of the media, law deans and academics. The entire proceedings of the Conference are available on the Georgetown Law website [see http://www.law.georgetown.edu/judiciary/program.html]. The Law Center was proud to sponsor the Conference and proud to welcome to campus the many distinguished participants. Here is a list of some of the important considerations that were discussed:
The Law Center will stay engaged in these issues, serving as the home for follow-on work from the Conference.
September 12, 2006 – As the first weeks of classes are underway, I want to tell you more about the entering class. They are an extraordinary group both in terms of qualifications and life experiences. Here are some facts about the class: This year’s entering class has students from 47 states and 11 foreign countries, representing 205 different colleges and universities. This year, almost two-thirds (63%) of our Day students have taken some time off before coming to law school. Eighty students in the full-time and part-time divisions have advanced degrees; 11 have Ph.D.’s. The top “home” states of our full-time students are:
The top five majors represented in this year’s class are:
Andy Cornblatt, Dean of Admissions, adds these comments:
August 30, 2006 – Summer is suddenly over, as the returning students are back this week interviewing for jobs in the On-campus Early Interview Week. Approximately 15,000 interviews will be conducted this year. The entering class of students is stronger than ever. We received about 11,200 applications for 450 places in the full time J.D. program and 125 in the evening program. The median LSAT score of the entering class was 169 (the 98th percentile) and the median GPA increased to 3.71, both figures the highest ever. More information about this entering class will follow in my next entry. We are pleased to welcome five new members to our faculty this year:
We have added three new Legal Research & Writing faculty members as part of a new legal writing program (which I will describe is more detail in a subsequent post).
Summer '06
July 13, 2006 - The Supreme Court’s decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, announced the final day of the Court’s term, is of surpassing importance as this nation wages its war against terrorism. Professor Neal Katyal represented Hamdan, whom the government alleges was at one time Osama bin Laden’s bodyguard and driver and had received training at an al Qaeda camp. Hamdan was apprehended in Afghanistan in 2001 and transported to Guantánamo Naval Base shortly thereafter; he has been detained there since. In 2004, Hamdan was charged with war crimes and scheduled for trial before a military commission that had been convened pursuant to an Executive Order issued by President Bush shortly after the September 11 attacks on the U.S. A majority of the Court accepted Neal’s argument that the structure and procedures of the military commissions were illegal under federal law and the Geneva Conventions relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War. Hamdan has been read by some legal experts in separation of powers terms; that is, they see the Court as insisting that Congress be involved in the establishment of procedures for trying detainees for war crimes. This reading, which is buttressed by Justice Breyer’s concurring opinion in the case, would recognize power in Congress to authorize the kind of tribunals that the President sought to constitute on his own. My reading of the case is a bit different. I think that underlying the Court’s decision are fundamental principles of fair procedure implicit in the idea of the Rule of Law and international law—norms that both Congress and the Executive Branch are bound to respect. Whatever the ultimate meaning of Hamdan, its immediate impact has been dramatic: the Executive Branch has abandoned its earlier position that al Qaeda and Taliban detainees are not protected by the Geneva Conventions; and the Pentagon has ordered all Department of Defense personnel to review policies and practices to ensure adherence to the Conventions’ standards. The New York Times reports (July 12) that “the new White House interpretation is likely to have sweeping implications.” Neal was aided by the research of a number of Georgetown students and by an amicus brief by Professors Steve Goldblatt, Peter Rubin and Carlos Vázquez. The case was mooted before the Law Center’s Supreme Court Institute shortly before it was argued at the Court.
The Law Center granted an honorary degree to the Honorable John G. Roberts, Jr., Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Chief Justice Roberts told the graduating class that “being lawyers is of course a special calling in a society that is governed by the rule of law.You have assumed an obligation to protect and promote the rule of law while resisting the very real temptation to substitute for it the rule of lawyers. There is a difference.” Also receiving an honorary degree from the Law Center was Gay Johnson McDougall, former Executive Director of GlobalRights.org and the first United Nations Independent Expert on Minority Issues. A webcast of the proceedings may be viewed at: http://www.law.georgetown.edu/webcast/index.cfm Spring '06
Professor Drinan receives Congressional Distinguished Service Award I wanted to include here both my remarks and then Bob’s from the ceremony:
Father Drinan’s remarks:
We are prouder than we can say of Father Drinan – he serves as an example of the dedication to public service that is embodied in our motto: law is but a means, justice is the end.
Colombian Refugee Fact-Finding Investigation and Advocacy Project on the Material Support Bar: Human Rights Institute, Georgetown University Law Center April 12, 2006 - Over the spring break, eleven Georgetown Law students, joined by Professor Andy Schoenholtz and Mia Cohen traveled to Ecuador to undertake a “fact-finding mission” on an important issue in U.S. and international refugee law. Working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the students spent ten days interviewing approximately 70 Colombian refugees, UNHCR officials, Ecuadorian and U.S. government officials, and human rights and refugee advocates in the cities of Quito, Ibarra, and Lago Agrio where large numbers of Colombian refugees live. The trip was a project of the Law Center’s new Human Rights Institute. The issue of law they were investigating appears technical, but it has had worldwide implications. The USA PATRIOT Act and other recent immigration legislation bar persons who offer “material support” to terrorist organizations from entering the U.S. The definitions of terrorist activity and “material support” are quite broad and include no exceptions for persons coerced into assisting terrorist groups. These provisions apply to persons seeking to enter the U.S. as refugees; and as a result, thousands of refugees seeking protection from the U.S. have had their cases put on indefinite hold by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) because of “material support,” such as goods or services, that terrorist groups extorted from them, often under the threat of death. The students found that most of the refugees they interviewed—persons fleeing from Colombia to Ecuador—would be denied admission to the U.S. under the “material support bar.” One young man who had been kidnapped by paramilitaries and forced to dig graves could have been barred from refugee status for having provided services; a small business owner who was forced to provide scarves and ski masks to paramilitaries—and subjected to sexual abuse when she sought payment—could also be denied admission. The student’s research is already beginning to have an impact, as is evident in a recent New York Times editorial that relied, in part, on the project’s fact-finding: http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00A1EFA38540C708CDDAD0894DE404482
March 7, 2006 – As I write, the Law Center is enjoying the relative quiet of Spring Break. (I say “relative” because we will hosting the Annual Alumni Women’s Forum and the Continuing Legal Education’s Corporate Counsel Institute over the next several days.) While most students are away taking a well-deserved break from their studies, I thought I would tell you about three initiatives students have begun. This past fall, a group of students organized and opened General Jurisdiction, a Georgetown Law student-operated non-profit convenience store located in the Sport and Fitness building. Established by Equal Access to Justice Group (E.A.T. Justice), General Jurisdiction hires individuals who need assistance in attaining their professional goals. Employees are supported with training, career counseling and job placement assistance in their chosen field. Store proceeds will fund grants and fellowships for law students who work in volunteer public interest jobs over the summer. Over the winter, students have developed an English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) program on campus for Law Center employees. So far, nine employees have signed up and have been paired with Law Center students to practice basic conversation, work on pronunciation and learn essential vocabulary. The pairings will last for the entire semester. A new student organization was added this year to our roster of more than 70: Georgetown Law Students for D.C. Their stated goal is to raise awareness among the Georgetown Law Center community about national and local issues having a direct impact on the District of Columbia and its citizens. I close this entry with a nice note about one of our alumnae. In January, Lorie Skjerven Gildea, L’86, was appointed as an Associate Justice on Minnesota’s Supreme Court.
Statement by Dean T. Alexander Aleinikoff January 26, 2006 - This week, the Law Center initiated the Georgetown Law Forum, a series of speeches and panels on important legal and policy issues. Our topic was one of abiding significance: the legality of domestic surveillance by the National Security Agency (NSA). We welcomed to our campus Alberto Gonzales, Attorney General of the United States, who gave a major address on the topic. A distinguished panel of national security law and constitutional law experts representing widely different views on the legal and policy issues spoke at the conclusion of the Attorney General’s speech. The actions of the NSA, authorized by the President, raise profound questions of constitutional and statutory law—questions that merit close examination by the best legal minds in our nation. The Attorney General’s address and the panel discussion that followed were robust, analytical and serious.
January 18, 2006 - We have just completed our new first year program: "Week One--Law in a Global Context." Week One (as we call it) marks the most significant change in the Law Center curriculum in a decade. The purpose of Week One is to introduce first year students to transnational legal issues--international law, comparative law, choice of law, and law in other jurisdictions. Faculty members, working collaboratively, constructed problems that related to courses in the first year but that placed them in a cross-border context. One problem related to extradition to the U.S. from European countries bound by the European Convention on Human Rights (which prohibits, under some circumstances, extradition to countries that impose the death penalty). Another considered a tort problem, arising from the publication on a California website information alleging criminal conduct by a French wine producer. A third involved a contract between U.S. and French companies for a project in Laos made impracticable by environmental policies adopted by China. Each problem included an experiential element--an oral argument before the European Court of Human Rights, contract drafting or an international arbitration. This was a terrific collaborative venture, involving participation by more than 30 faculty members and several dozen upper-class students who returned to the Law Center a week early to serve as Global Teaching Fellows in the program. As I said to the first year class, Week One is a work-in-progress, not an experiment. By this I mean that the Law Center is now committed to ensuring that the first year curriculum includes a transnational legal component. We will, of course, continue to work on the Week One materials, probably adding new problems in years ahead. We have asked students to provide us with evaluations of the week, and I will report on these when I receive them.
Georgetown Law Students and the Harrison Institute featured in the Washington Post January 11, 2006 - The Washington Post has published a series of articles on the tenants of Capital Manor, who are represented by the Housing Clinic of the Harrison Institute for Public Law at Georgetown. For the past five years, Georgetown Law students provided the legal services and transaction planning that the tenants of Capitol Manor needed to become owners of their 102 unit, three-building complex at 14th & W Streets in Northwest Washington. The buildings have been redeveloped as a tenant-owned, limited equity cooperative. Renovations are now complete, and a grand opening was held at noon on Friday, December 16th. D.C. government officials participated in the event, with continued coverage by the Washington Post and other media. Under the supervision of clinic fellow Aaron O'Toole and Professor Michael Diamond, who directs the housing clinic, the students helped the tenants incorporate an association, train a board of directors, write contracts with developers and architects, acquire financing from banks, purchase the property, manage the rehabilitation process, and convert ownership to a cooperative. The law that enabled Capitol Manor tenants to purchase their buildings in 2005 was drafted by Harrison Institute staff on behalf of the City-Wide Housing Coalition in 1980. Tenants can learn about this law and other tenant rights and responsibilities in the Tenant Survival Guide, which is published by the Harrison Institute (202-662-9600). Capitol Manor is one of 18 multifamily projects now in the Harrison Institute's housing clinic. When completed, these projects will result in over 800 units of affordable housing based on $60 million in private and public financing. Read the full article in the Washington Post Fall '05
December 23, 2005 - As our fall semester's exams end and our students take a well-deserved break, I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a warm and wonderful holiday season. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Kwanzaa! And may next year be one of peace and joy for all. Alex Aleinikoff
December 12, 2005 - It is with great sadness that I report that our beloved professor John Wolff died last week. He was 99 years of age and had taught at the Law Center for 44 years. John fell in his home a week ago Friday and broke his arm. Although he had already prepared his examination, he was distressed because he had to miss his last class. It was the first class he had missed since he had started teaching at the Law Center in 1961! For those of you not fortunate enough to have known Professor Wolff, I have included a brief bio. What the bio cannot capture is the energy and spirit of this dedicated teacher and musician. He will be greatly missed.
Supreme Court to Hear Professor Katyal's Hamdan Case November 11, 2005 - The Law Center's faculty continues to be involved in significant cases. Professor Neal Katyal is lead counsel in the case of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, which challenges the President's authority to establish military commission at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The Supreme Court announced this week that it will hear the case this spring. Linda Greenhouse, writing in the New York Times, said that the Hamdan case is "likely to be the marquee case of the Supreme Court term."
Our hearts go out to all who have been affected by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The images and stories of suffering and loss are deeply disturbing. I want to share with you the many ways that members of the Georgetown University Law Center community are lending a hand to the victims. In the aftermath of this disaster, many students, faculty, staff and alumni are reaching out to our neighbors in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama as well as to students affected by the storm at law schools in the Gulf Coast region. Georgetown is providing academic assistance to 29 displaced law students (23 J.D.s and 6 LL.M.s) with ties to the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The students, who are enrolled at hurricane-damaged Loyola University New Orleans Law School and Tulane University Law School, will attend Georgetown Law this semester as visitors, with academic credit and tuition going to their home institutions. Over the Labor Day weekend students met with academic advisors, student peer mentors, and financial aid staff. Textbooks were offered free of charge, and Georgetown students shared notes from the first week of classes. Temporary housing has been provided for our New Orleans visitors, and local alumni have generously offered assistance, including job opportunities. A number of students and student organizations have inquired about fundraising initiatives to assist in relief efforts. A school-wide bake sale took place Thursday, September 8, with all proceeds benefiting the American Red Cross. The Office of Public Interest and Community Service (OPICS) is working closely with the broader DC legal community to identify ways in which the Law Center can assist in the provision of pro bono legal representation to hurricane victims. The Law Center was also proud to host a major policy address on Hurricane Katrina by Marc Morial, L'83, President & CEO of the National Urban League. In his address, "Katrina & Beyond: Put People First, " he proposed a Katrina Bill of Rights that would address issues of economic disparity and equal opportunity in the recovery of New Orleans. I am deeply thankful to those who have contributed to these efforts and proud to be a member of this caring community. As relief work continues, I encourage you to think about ways that we can further assist those in need. If you have suggestions or would like to find out how you can help, please contact the Law Alumni Office at (202) 662-9166 or alumnlaw@law.georgetown.edu . To those of you who have been directly affected by this calamity, please know that the thoughts, prayers, and unwavering support of the Georgetown University Law Center community are with you during this extremely difficult time.
The first year class joining us the Law Center is once again an extraordinary group of students. Their credentials are stellar, both in terms of their undergraduate performance and their other experiences. Here are some facts about the class prepared by Dean of Admissions Andy Cornblatt (Dean Cornblatt has also recently taken on the position of Associate Vice President of the University for Graduate Admissions Programs—a job in which he will assist graduate programs on the hilltop in strategy and policies):
Professor Gregory Klass comes to Georgetown from the Office of the New York Attorney General, where he served as an Assistant Solicitor General from 2003 to 2005. Greg received his J.D. from Yale Law School and a Ph.D. in philosophy from the New School University. Prior to working at the Attorney General's office, Greg clerked for Judge Guido Calabresi on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Greg's research focuses on contracts and legal theory. His particular interests include legal concepts of intent, both in civil and in criminal law, and the relationship between contract law and the morality of promising. Greg recently co-authored a book on promissory fraud, Insincere Promises: The Law of Misrepresented Intent, and authored "The Very Idea of a First Amendment Right Against Compelled Subsidization" (U.C. Davis L. Rev. 2005). He will be teaching contracts and legal theory. Professor Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz attended Yale College and Yale Law School, and then clerked for Judge Frank H. Easterbrook on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. After clerking, he served as an Attorney-Advisor at the Office of Legal Counsel in the U.S Department of Justice. Nick has testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, and he has published two articles, both in the Harvard Law Review: Federal Rules of Statutory Interpretation, 115 Harv. L. Rev. 2085 (2002), and Executing the Treaty Power, 118 Harv. L. Rev. 1867 (2005). He was recently appointed to the Board of Visitors of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies. Nick's research interests include constitutional law, foreign affairs law, international law, federal jurisdiction, and statutory interpretation. He will be teaching constitutional law. Professor Rebecca Tushnet comes to Georgetown from the faculty of New York University School of Law. She was a clerk for Chief Judge Edward R. Becker of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia and Justice David H. Souter of the U.S. Supreme Court. Rebecca holds degrees from Harvard University and Yale Law School. Her publications include, Copy This Essay: How Fair Use Doctrine Harms Free Speech and How Copying Serves It, 114 Yale L.J. 535 (2004), Copyright as a Model for Free Speech Law (B.C. L. Rev. 2000), and Legal Fictions: Copyright, Fan Fiction, and a New Common Law (Loy. L.A. Ent. L.J.1997). Rebecca's research focuses on the relationship between copyright and free speech. She will be teaching classes on copyright law, the First Amendment, law of advertising and trademark and unfair competition law.
Summer '05
In May I travelled to Asia, including stops in Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul. We visited 14 universities, met with Justices of the Chinese and Japanese Supreme Courts, held alumni reunions in Tokyo and Seoul (for more pictures click here), and met with leading law firms in all three countries. We are considering faculty and student exchanges with leading law schools in Asia and would welcome any suggestions or other information you have have about funding such programs.
Thoughts About Judicial Independence Over the summer the Dean of the N.Y.U. Law School, Ricky Revesz, prepared a statement criticizing recent attacks on the judiciary and supporting judicial independence. The letter, in part, reads:
Dean Revesz circulated the letter for signature, and many Deans of American law schools signed it. The letter was sent to Members of Congress, the press, and the federal judiciary. While I fully agree with the sentiments expressed in the letter, I did not sign it -- primarily because I like to express important ideas in my own words and because Dean Revesz did not accept proposals to alter the language -- a stance I fully understand because of the large number of potential signees. I think the ideas expressed in the Revesz letter are of such vital importance. Accordingly, I have drafted my own statement to indicate my views:
Judge Douglas P. Woodlock of the Eastern District of Massachusetts and a 1975 graduate of the Law Center commented on "the proper posture of a judge" in remarks he made at the Boston Bar Association Law Day Dinner this year (at which he received the Association's Citation for Judicial Excellence):
2005 Commencement
Browse by topic: Legal Writing at Georgetown Law Professor Drinan receives Congressional Distinguished Service Award Colombian Refugee Fact-Finding Investigation Statement by Dean T. Alexander Aleinikoff Georgetown Law Students & Harrison Institute in the Washington Post Professor Katyal's Hamdan Case Thoughts About Judicial Independence
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June 28, 2006 – In May, we celebrated the graduation of the 134th class at the Law Center [858 graduates: 563 J.D.s and 295 LL.M.s].
May 19, 2006 – It is with great pride that I let you know that as a tribute to his outstanding service as a member of the United States House of Representatives, Georgetown University Law Center Professor Robert F. Drinan, S.J. was presented a Congressional Distinguished Service Award. Father Drinan, a five-term Representative from Massachusetts, received the honor during a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol on May 10, along with fellow recipients Vice President Dick Cheney, outgoing CIA Director Porter Goss, and former Louisiana Representative Lindy Boggs.
In May, we celebrated the
graduation of the 133rd class at the Law Center. [1034 graduates:
656 J.D.s, 376 LL.Ms, and 2 S.J.Ds]. The Law Center granted honorary
degrees to the Honorable Margaret M. McKeown, a judge on the Ninth
Circuit Court of Appeals and a 1975 graduate of the Law Center; and
to the Honorable Lee Hamilton, President and Director of the Woodrow
Wilson Center for Internationals Scholars and Vice Chair of the 9/11
Commission. Congressman Hamilton's address to the graduating
class urged that they consider public service. "You should
see yourselves as society's negotiators, mediators and peacemakers."
He counseled them "to keep an eye on the disadvantaged.
You should view yourselves as guardian of all, not just the rich.
. . . As you have learned here at Georgetown, law is a profession
of service with significant public obligations."