Geri Lopez Lecture

19 days. Today was my last day of classes. I can't believe this day has finally arrived. With the exception of the two years that I was in Hungary, I really have been in school since Kindergarten. One of my favorite parts of college is the last lecture that some of the professors do on the last day of class. For a last lecture, they typically give advice for life instead of just talking about the course material. They are somewhat rare in law school, but there is one last lecture that I got for the third time today. It's probably the only lecture I've ever gotten three times so I figured that I would share it with everyone.

The lecture is entitled the Geri Lopez lecture. I have no idea who this person is other than what I learned through my internet search. All I know is that he was my professor's Contracts Professor. He gave basically the same lecture to her and now she gives it to all of her students. Turns out he was prominent civil rights attorney in California and worked to mobilize individuals to change the rough situation they were living in.

The basic premise is that because you are in law school that puts you in an elite group. Since you are in that elite group you have certain responsibilities.

We have a duty to your community. She challenged us to take on pro bono cases to help those who can't afford legal services. Give to worthy causes whether with our time or financial means. Also be politically active. Since we are in the battle so to speak, we need to help shape policy.

We have a duty to those in the profession (i.e. other lawyers). We need to be an example of professional and ethical lawyers. We need to set the standard and adhere to the ethical rules. This is especially important because of the bad reputation lawyers as a whole have because of the actions of a few lawyers. "If lawyers acted like Mother Teresa, we wouldn't have a bad reputation." We also need to insist that others follow our lead. We also need to remember that we can always risk walking away from an unethical situation and hang our own shingle.

Finally, we have a duty to ourselves. We always need to make sure that we are questioning ourselves and who we are and what we value. We don't want to wake up one day, look in the mirror and not like what we see staring back at us.

Ultimately, we need to do what we love. The professor giving this lecture did just that when she gave up a successful law practice to travel from California to Indiana to become a professor. She does what she loves.

I think this is great advice. Essentially, she's challenging us to be true to ourselves. Great advice for us all.