Bar Admission 2002

Magistrate Judge Stephen G. Larson '89, one of the youngest people appointed to the federal bench in California's Central District, delivered the following speech at USC Law's Bar Admission Ceremony on Dec. 9, 2002.

Thank you for this opportunity to speak to you today on behalf of the United States District Court and on my own behalf. I congratulate you for your accomplishment. Having survived law school and the bar examination myself, I understand just how significant today is to you.

A career in the profession of law is a tremendous undertaking. It is imbued with obligations and responsibilities to yourself, to your clients, to your community, and to your country.

Like any noble adventure, it is important to seek the guidance of mentors who can help navigate waters which at times are quite treacherous. Access to the diverse experiences of those who have started this journey ahead of you can be most helpful as you make the transition from student to practitioner. I urge you to become involved in local bar associations and inns of court; I urge you to cultivate and develop relationships with respected senior lawyers in the law firms and law communities in which you practice; and I urge that you do not forget that important resource that you can always turn to for advice and good counsel -- the professors and deans here at the University of Southern California Law School, who remain eager to help you as you further develop yourselves as lawyers and counselors of law.

While I cannot overstate the importance of learning from your new colleagues, may I recommend also that you be mindful of those who have gone before you who may serve as sources of inspiration and encouragement.

There are two men who, though long-deceased, have inspired me in my journey as a lawyer -- their portraits hang in my chambers as a reminder to me of the principles which their lives seem to represent. Though the lives of these two were separated by over three centuries, they were remarkably similar. To begin, both were lawyers. Both rose to very powerful positions in their respective nations -- one was a Chancellor of England, the other President of the United States. Both served their countries during time of extreme civil political crisis, which in England was cast in terms of a political and social struggle over religious affiliation and political loyalty, and in the United States was cast in terms of division between North and South over the issue of slavery and all of its moral, economic, and social implications. Ultimately both men paid the ultimate human price for their convictions and principles in the face of fierce opposition, each dying violently at the hands of other men. The two lawyers of whom I speak, of course, are Thomas More of 16th century England, and Abraham Lincoln of 19th century America.

I submit that the speeches, the writings, and, most convincingly, the lives of each of these men provide us lawyers of the 21st century who follow in their noble profession with inspiring guidance. As you take your oath to uphold the Constitution and law of this country, and to bear true faith and allegiance to the Government of the United States, let me touch on just two themes which I hope you will take with you and incorporate into your own legal practice.

The first is an appreciation for the fundamental importance of the rule of law. In his aptly-entitled play A Man for All Seasons, playwright Robert Bolt dramatizes a conversation between the impertinent William Roper and the discerning Thomas More. Roper, exasperated with the unwavering commitment of More to the rule of law, asks: "So now you'd give the Devil benefit of law?"

More responds:"Yes. What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?"

Roper, with all the sincerity of our own contemporary zealots of both the right and the left, retorts by exclaiming:"I'd cut down every law in England to do that!"

More replies: "Oh! And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you -- where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat! This country's planted thick with laws from coast to coast -- man's laws, not God's -- and if you cut them down -- and you're just the man to do it -- do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of the law, for my own safety's sake."

We learn of those in our own time who would disregard due process of law for the sake of well-intentioned but misguided notions of public safety or the common good; others who would do so for the not-so-well-intentioned motives of personal expediency or political advantage. As lawyers, your duty is to question and, when appropriate, to resist those impulses.

As a prosecutor and judge, I have had the opportunity to travel to Russia and most of the former Soviet republics as part of the efforts to establish the rule of law in countries that were dominated for decades, and in some cases centuries, by the rule of despots. These travels have reinforced for me the perspective attributed to Thomas More -- the critical importance of remaining, in the words of John Adams, "[a] government of laws and not of men."

The second lesson is the abiding importance of honesty to our profession, and your reputation, which, you cannot be reminded enough, is your most cherished resource.

Mr. Lincoln once made this poignant remark: "Resolve to be honest at all events. And, if in your own judgment you cannot be an honest lawyer, resolve to be honest without being a lawyer. Choose some other occupation."

It may be more difficult to find many contemporary role models who place such an emphasis on honesty -- but I implore you, for the sake of your reputation, for the sake of your profession, for the sake of your sacred integrity, be honest.

It takes a very special person, in my view, to defend those who have transgressed society's laws; it takes a very special person to judge the disputes between individuals and corporations and governments; it takes a very special person to counsel with wisdom and humanity; it takes a very special person to represent another and, when necessary, to place another's interest ahead of your own. Those special people are called lawyers, and that is what you, today, become. But if you are not honest, in all respects, to yourself and to those with whom you labor, you will forfeit both the ability and the right to defend, to prosecute, to judge, to counsel and to represent. You will forfeit your right to be a lawyer.

Regardless what direction your practice takes you, I pray that you never forget the lessons of More and Lincoln: For good reason we are a civilized society governed by law, not by the capricious will of individuals, well-intentioned or not; and no matter what, be honest lawyers and true to yourselves and your noble vocation.

I wish you well.