D.C. Circuit Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan Reflects on Legal Advocacy, Public Service at The Georgetown Law Journal Banquet

“It’s not the case that great advocates are born,” Srinivasan said in reflecting on his judicial career and the advice he would offer to the next generation of legal professionals. “Really great advocates are made.”

More than 150 attendees, including current and former editorial staff representing 24 volumes of the Journal, joined the cocktail reception and celebratory dinner at the historic Mayflower Hotel in downtown Washington, D.C. Founded in 1912, The Georgetown Law Journal is the oldest of the Law Center’s 12 student-run law journals, with some 120 students serving on its staff each year.

In conversation with outgoing Editor-in-Chief Yasmeen Rose, L’25, Srinivasan reflected on his career in public service and perspective on legal advocacy as both a judge and attorney. Srinivasan was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in 2013 and became chief judge in 2020, having previously served as the principal deputy solicitor general of the United States.

“When you’re appointed to do public service, it’s the ultimate manifestation of belonging,” said Srinivasan, who was born in India and is the nation’s first federal circuit court judge of South Asian descent. “The zeal to do public service, for me, is born out of the zeal to want to show that I belong.”

‘Equitably advancing the law’

Rose was joined by Dean William M. Treanor and incoming Editor-in-Chief Amritha Ramalingam, F’23, L’26, in welcoming attendees and highlighting Volume 113 of the Journal, including current and forthcoming student and faculty scholarship on topics ranging from copyright law and juvenile justice to free speech constraints on social media influencers.

“We have the duty to elevate scholarship that confronts legal failures and helps imagine a better legal future,” said Rose, who will clerk for Judge Srinivasan after graduation. “This year, our work was guided by a shared commitment to deepen the Journal’s impact … and to push legal scholarship in a more urgent and inclusive direction.”

In the coming year, the Journal will continue to build on its Supreme Court Coverage Program, a partnership launched in February between the Supreme Court Press Office and GLJ Online, the Journal’s online publication. Through the first-of-its-kind program, Journal members attend oral arguments at the Supreme Court and write about the high-profile cases that come before the nation’s highest court.

As part of its biennial symposium series, the Journal will also convene leading scholars and legal advocates on the Law Center campus this fall to discuss the intersection of labor law and civil rights violations in the modern era.

“Volume 114 will carry the previous volumes’ legacy of equitably advancing the law through legal academia,” said Ramalingam, a Global Law Scholar who is the ninth woman in a row to lead the Journal. “Our scholarship will … spotlight the work of leaders in the field, rising scholars and students who dare to dream big about what the law can be.”

Celebrating scholarship — and friendship

The banquet also served as an opportunity for Law Center and Journal alumni to connect with each other and with current editorial staff members.

Catherine McNally, N’17, L’20, who worked on the American Criminal Law Review during her time at Georgetown Law, was looking forward to engaging with students throughout the evening. “It’s always amazing to see what students are doing with respect to the journals,” she said. “The quality of work that they produce is really commendable. It’s really exciting to be here and to be a part of it tonight.”

For Timothy Choppin, L’94, and Fernando Laguarda, L’94, working together on the Journal — including running the Write On Competition for first-year students — provided the foundation for a decades-long friendship.

“We worked very hard, we practically lived at the Journal,” said Laguarda, who served as the Journal’s notes and comments editor. “We made really good friendships that we have to this day.”

“The Journal was a great experience,” said Choppin, formerly the Journal’s administrative editor. “We want to celebrate it and celebrate Georgetown.”