Dean Lawrence Mitchell

Congratulations, members of the Class of 2012. You are ready to become members of one of the world's most critically important professions.

You have worked hard, and earned the opportunities that will be yours. But we have a fallacy in America, a myth that all achievement is individual achievement. That is nonsense. You are here because you have worked hard, yes. But you didn't reach this day alone. Please take a moment to thank your parents, spouses, siblings, children, friends, teachers, and anybody and everybody else who helped you to reach this point in your lives.

This is a day of celebration. But it is foolish to ignore the fact that you are entering our profession during a time of great turmoil. The legal profession is facing many challenges, and the results are far from clear. Some of these challenges are economic, some technological, some arise from the globalization and integration of our world economy, some from the collapse of stable tyrants and the rise of new but uncertain democracies, some from new threats to the peace and security of our own nation. Some of these challenges will affect you directly in your practice of law or the conduct of your business. Others will serve as the background against which you build your lives and careers.

The test for you is not whether you confront these challenges, but how you face them. Will you face them with dignity, grace, openness of mind and heart, humility, and generosity of spirit, or will you turn from them in fear, arrogance, narrowness of vision and purpose, a rigid cast of mind, concern only for yourselves?

We know the way the greatest among our profession have served. And serve is the operative word. For what you have worked for throughout your education, what you have achieved by reaching this milestone, is nothing less than the opportunity to serve, and to serve in a way that is unique in our society. For we are those who structure our society, protect our prosperity, turn the gears of commerce. We are a shield of the vulnerable, we are the architects of justice, we are the preservers of peace. We are the friend to those who have no friend. We are the guardians of justice when there is nobody left to defend it. The work we do is the cornerstone of civilization. In all of this, we serve our society, and our world, in ways that are our special province. We are lawyers.

The degree you have earned today is a credential that allows you to make a living. Despite economic turmoil, despite law school debt, all of you will, if you choose, make a living, and a good living at that.

But anyone can make a living. You have chosen to make your living in the most noble and fulfilling way possible for a human being. You have chosen to make a living in service to others. There is no higher calling. There is no greater way to live.

So I congratulate you on your achievements. I wish you the greatest joy and satisfaction in your work, your lives, and your families. But I also thank you. I thank you for, by joining our noble profession, you have committed yourselves to preserving and building, for all of us, the greatness that is our state, our nation, and our world. You have accepted the trust that we today place in your hands. You have taken upon yourselves the burden of responsibility for our way of living that all of our citizens place upon you.

Congratulations for all that you have done. Thank you for all that you will do. May you be blessed in your lives and in your work.

Dean Lawrence Mitchell

Congratulations, members of the Class of 2012. You are ready to become members of one of the world's most critically important professions.

You have worked hard, and earned the opportunities that will be yours. But we have a fallacy in America, a myth that all achievement is individual achievement. That is nonsense. You are here because you have worked hard, yes. But you didn't reach this day alone. Please take a moment to thank your parents, spouses, siblings, children, friends, teachers, and anybody and everybody else who helped you to reach this point in your lives.

This is a day of celebration. But it is foolish to ignore the fact that you are entering our profession during a time of great turmoil. The legal profession is facing many challenges, and the results are far from clear. Some of these challenges are economic, some technological, some arise from the globalization and integration of our world economy, some from the collapse of stable tyrants and the rise of new but uncertain democracies, some from new threats to the peace and security of our own nation. Some of these challenges will affect you directly in your practice of law or the conduct of your business. Others will serve as the background against which you build your lives and careers.

The test for you is not whether you confront these challenges, but how you face them. Will you face them with dignity, grace, openness of mind and heart, humility, and generosity of spirit, or will you turn from them in fear, arrogance, narrowness of vision and purpose, a rigid cast of mind, concern only for yourselves?

We know the way the greatest among our profession have served. And serve is the operative word. For what you have worked for throughout your education, what you have achieved by reaching this milestone, is nothing less than the opportunity to serve, and to serve in a way that is unique in our society. For we are those who structure our society, protect our prosperity, turn the gears of commerce. We are a shield of the vulnerable, we are the architects of justice, we are the preservers of peace. We are the friend to those who have no friend. We are the guardians of justice when there is nobody left to defend it. The work we do is the cornerstone of civilization. In all of this, we serve our society, and our world, in ways that are our special province. We are lawyers.

The degree you have earned today is a credential that allows you to make a living. Despite economic turmoil, despite law school debt, all of you will, if you choose, make a living, and a good living at that.

But anyone can make a living. You have chosen to make your living in the most noble and fulfilling way possible for a human being. You have chosen to make a living in service to others. There is no higher calling. There is no greater way to live.

So I congratulate you on your achievements. I wish you the greatest joy and satisfaction in your work, your lives, and your families. But I also thank you. I thank you for, by joining our noble profession, you have committed yourselves to preserving and building, for all of us, the greatness that is our state, our nation, and our world. You have accepted the trust that we today place in your hands. You have taken upon yourselves the burden of responsibility for our way of living that all of our citizens place upon you.

Congratulations for all that you have done. Thank you for all that you will do. May you be blessed in your lives and in your work.

Dean Lawrence Mitchell

Congratulations, members of the Class of 2012. You are ready to become members of one of the world's most critically important professions.

You have worked hard, and earned the opportunities that will be yours. But we have a fallacy in America, a myth that all achievement is individual achievement. That is nonsense. You are here because you have worked hard, yes. But you didn't reach this day alone. Please take a moment to thank your parents, spouses, siblings, children, friends, teachers, and anybody and everybody else who helped you to reach this point in your lives.

This is a day of celebration. But it is foolish to ignore the fact that you are entering our profession during a time of great turmoil. The legal profession is facing many challenges, and the results are far from clear. Some of these challenges are economic, some technological, some arise from the globalization and integration of our world economy, some from the collapse of stable tyrants and the rise of new but uncertain democracies, some from new threats to the peace and security of our own nation. Some of these challenges will affect you directly in your practice of law or the conduct of your business. Others will serve as the background against which you build your lives and careers.

The test for you is not whether you confront these challenges, but how you face them. Will you face them with dignity, grace, openness of mind and heart, humility, and generosity of spirit, or will you turn from them in fear, arrogance, narrowness of vision and purpose, a rigid cast of mind, concern only for yourselves?

We know the way the greatest among our profession have served. And serve is the operative word. For what you have worked for throughout your education, what you have achieved by reaching this milestone, is nothing less than the opportunity to serve, and to serve in a way that is unique in our society. For we are those who structure our society, protect our prosperity, turn the gears of commerce. We are a shield of the vulnerable, we are the architects of justice, we are the preservers of peace. We are the friend to those who have no friend. We are the guardians of justice when there is nobody left to defend it. The work we do is the cornerstone of civilization. In all of this, we serve our society, and our world, in ways that are our special province. We are lawyers.

The degree you have earned today is a credential that allows you to make a living. Despite economic turmoil, despite law school debt, all of you will, if you choose, make a living, and a good living at that.

But anyone can make a living. You have chosen to make your living in the most noble and fulfilling way possible for a human being. You have chosen to make a living in service to others. There is no higher calling. There is no greater way to live.

So I congratulate you on your achievements. I wish you the greatest joy and satisfaction in your work, your lives, and your families. But I also thank you. I thank you for, by joining our noble profession, you have committed yourselves to preserving and building, for all of us, the greatness that is our state, our nation, and our world. You have accepted the trust that we today place in your hands. You have taken upon yourselves the burden of responsibility for our way of living that all of our citizens place upon you.

Congratulations for all that you have done. Thank you for all that you will do. May you be blessed in your lives and in your work.