Hey, Fellow English Majors - Maybe We Should Stop Apologizing for All That ...

 JD graduates will again be able to experience the collective in-person joy of a commencement ceremony. So, the hot topic in legal media is: Who the commencement speakers are.

LORETTA LYNCH TO ADDRESS HAVARD LAW SCHOOL GRADUATES

Harvard Law School announces that its big day for all that pomp and ceremony is May 29th. In addition, it also announces that the commencement speaker is one of its own: Loretta Lynch. She had received her JD in 1984. While matriculating at Harvard Law she was already nurturing her skills in public service. There, for instance, she had been a member of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau.

HOPE FOR US ENGLISH MAJORS

Before parachuting into Harvard Law School, Lynch had done her undergraduate degree in English and American Literature. That was at Harvard College and it awarded her the BA in 1981.

Obviously, that major hadn’t been a liability. So maybe the rest of us who also had been English majors should stop apologizing for making that choice.

GOVERNMENT SERVICE

Currently a partner in the Litigation Department at Paul Weiss Lynch had been the first woman of color to serve as Attorney General of the US (2015 – 2017). Before that, her government service included being the US Attorney for the Eastern Division (1999 - 2002, 2010 – 2015). A primary passion has been advocating for civil rights.

PRIVATE PRACTICE

It has been to Paul Weiss that Lynch made the pivot into private practice. Her work has been multi-disciplinary. For example, she conducted the internal investigation for BlackRock into sexual-harassment allegations. On the litigation front, she is representing a number of businesses in lawsuits about alleged discrimination. In a public advisory capacity she mediated a dispute between the Federal Defenders of New York and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

In addition, she is a role model for women of color in the legal sector.

WHEN PAUL WEISS CHAIRPERSON BRAD KARP ALMOST DIDN’T MAKE HIS HARVARD LAW SCHOOL GRADUATION

Not everyone, including those in the legal community, understands the importance of the commencement ritual to the new graduates.

There is the, well, funny anecdote about current Paul Weiss Chairperson Brad Karp and his own commencement day scheduled at Harvard Law School. At the time, reports Bloomberg Law, Karp had been clerking for The Honorable Irving R. Kaufman, former Chief Judge of the US Court Of Appeals for the Second Circuit. That is the Judge who handed down the death sentence for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

The clerkship was quite demanding – so much so that Karp had to obtain special permission to take the time from his 14-hour days, seven days a week, work schedule to be at his Harvard Law commencement in 1984.

Yes, do the math: Lynch and Karp had been classmates at Harvard Law.

Congratulations to the JD Class of 2022

Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com. Now and then she does freelance communications assignments for law firms such as Paul Weiss – both defense and plaintiff.

 

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