[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 196 (Wednesday, November 18, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7070-S7071]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             GEORGETOWN LAW'S ``LAWYERS AS LEADERS'' COURSE

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, there is no question that 2020 has been a 
year of challenges, difficulty, and concern. It is in these more 
challenging times that it is especially important to shine a light on 
those individuals and institutions that are doing good work, work that 
inspires the next generation of leaders to think bigger and create a 
brighter future. It is no surprise that Georgetown Law, where I earned 
my law degree, is doing precisely that, living up to its timeless 
motto: ``Law is but the means, justice is the end.''
  This fall, Georgetown Law has offered a unique course entitled 
``Lawyers as Leaders'' for the first time. Far from a staid black 
letter law class, this course is styled as a series of candid, 
introspective conversations between Georgetown Law Dean William M. 
Treanor and faculty members who have been prominent leaders in the law 
and public service. These conversations seek to confront law students 
with the pressing issues of the day--the COVID-19 pandemic, racial 
injustices, the fragility of our democracy's norms, to name a few--and 
give them a sense for what, as future attorneys, they can do to address 
them.
  In a time of unprecedented uncertainty, the course is a reminder, as 
one enrolled student put it, ``that there is hope.'' Lawyers as Leaders 
centers students in the values that inspired them to study the law and 
reminds them of their own agency to make measurable change. It is no 
wonder that over 300 students have enrolled in this course, the largest 
class enrollment in Georgetown Law's 150-year history. I hope this 
course is offered for many semesters to come.
  I have often highlighted the achievements of Georgetown Law both on 
and off the Senate floor. The education I received there was central to 
my decision to dedicate my career to public service. It is exactly 
courses like Lawyers as Leaders that will help encourage this and 
future classes of Georgetown Law students to pursue their passions as 
attorneys. Georgetown Law should be commended for offering this course 
and reminding students that the law is most exciting and transformative 
when it is viewed not just as a career, but as a calling.
  I ask unanimous consent that an article from the Washington Post, 
published on November 6, 2020, titled ``Most popular course ever at 
Georgetown Law? How to fight for justice,'' be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                [From the Washington Post, Nov. 6, 2020]

  Most Popular Course Ever at Georgetown Law? How To Fight for Justice

                           (By Susan Svrluga)

       In her third year of law school, Maxine Walters expected to 
     have everything in place: Her job locked in, her career path 
     mapped out.
       Then the pandemic hit, and economic uncertainty, and 
     protests erupted over racial justice and tensions flared over 
     the presidential election and transition. Her summer job with 
     a firm evaporated, and with it the hoped-for offer of a 
     permanent position by the time classes resumed for the fall.
       But her school year began with an unusual class--one 
     created to mark Georgetown University Law Center's 150th 
     anniversary and shaped by the realities of 2020--that has, 
     for many students, upended their ideas about rigid timelines 
     for success, their expectations and even their aspirations.
       Instead of a traditional course focused on an area of law 
     such as contracts or torts, the school's leaders crafted a 
     more personal, broad-ranging look at leadership. It was a 
     recognition that the tumultuous times are forcing a 
     reckoning, and leaving many students yearning to have an 
     impact.
       Clearly, they touched a nerve: More than 300 upper-level 
     students signed up for ``Lawyers as Leaders,'' the largest 
     enrollment for a course in the history of Georgetown Law.
       ``This is definitely a time where the ground is moving,'' 
     said Max Lesser, a 28-year-old student from New Jersey. 
     ``Everyone realizes that the old paradigms of politics and 
     justice are kind of breaking. . . . Lawyers have a real role 
     to play in what path we take.''
       For the online course, students submit questions about 
     assigned readings and then listen to a conversation between 
     Georgetown Law Dean William M. Treanor and a faculty member. 
     He asks them to talk about how to move forward to confront 
     ``the great issues of this terrible time.''
       ``This is a time when we're all grappling with so many 
     crises'' and profound challenges and losses, he said.
       The conversations held each Sunday--now available to all on 
     the school's anniversary website--have been topical, even 
     urgent. Students have heard from Lawrence Gostin about 
     health-care policy during the pandemic, such as vaccine 
     distribution and whether the government should mandate mask-
     wearing and social distancing.
       Neal Katyal, who has argued more than 40 cases before the 
     Supreme Court, spoke about the contested 2000 election, in 
     which he was co-counsel to Democratic candidate Al Gore, and 
     about electoral integrity this year. Randy Barnett, a 
     libertarian and self-described contrarian, talked about the 
     constitutionality of health policy, recent Supreme Court 
     nominees and the importance of seeking out opposing 
     viewpoints. And Rosa Brooks talked about her work examining 
     whether norms will hold fast in the aftermath of this 
     contentious election, or whether the country could face a 
     constitutional crisis.
       The conversations have been challenging, insightful, 
     sometimes funny and surprisingly vulnerable. Gostin spoke of 
     his difficult childhood, and how that had helped shape the 
     optimistic outlook he's known for. He shared his tips for the 
     best way to make popcorn.
       Katyal told students to do something that was uncomfortable 
     for them, especially early in their careers. He said he had 
     recently taken rap improv classes to improve his ability to 
     think on his feet, and found it terrifying.
       Katyal also shared how his father faced discrimination and 
     was unfairly fired, but had his dignity restored by a civil 
     case, inspiring Katyal to go to law school. He told how he 
     always asked his children's advice the night before a Supreme 
     Court case, and shared some of their tips on how to stay calm 
     when facing the justices. (Once: ``Think of a cute pig.'')
       This is a time when shared challenges make people more 
     comfortable talking about vulnerabilities, Treanor said. ``I 
     don't think we would have these same conversations if we had 
     this class two years ago.''
       Hillary Sale, an associate dean and professor who helped 
     design the class, agreed. The stress of the times is making 
     people introspective and reflective, she said, ``in ways that 
     are probably really good, and probably wouldn't happen 
     without that outside pressure.''
       Paul Butler, a former federal prosecutor, challenged 
     students to rethink the justice system, which he argues is 
     not weakened by a few racist bad-apple police officers, but 
     is ``broke on purpose'' and working the way it was designed 
     to work.
       Butler told of his searing experience decades ago when he 
     was arrested while he was a prosecutor on a case accusing a 
     U.S. senator of corruption. As he wrote in his book ``Let's 
     Get Free,'' Butler was charged with simple assault after a 
     neighbor falsely accused him of pushing her after a dispute 
     over a parking space. Police officers cursed at him. At the 
     courthouse, he was led, handcuffed, through the inmates' 
     entrance--when, as a prosecutor, he normally could breeze 
     through the main entrance without needing to go through a 
     metal detector.
       At his trial, he said, he listened to a police officer lie 
     on the stand. After he was acquitted, he felt the weight of 
     how easily the false

[[Page S7071]]

     accusation could have destroyed him, if not for the skill of 
     his attorney.
       A Yale- and Harvard-educated prosecutor, Butler had once 
     felt different from the Black men he prosecuted, he told The 
     Washington Post. But, he said, ``I certainly wasn't different 
     in the way police responded to me.''
       He wanted students to think about the inevitable setbacks 
     and traumatic experiences they would face, and how they would 
     confront those with integrity. ``The main thing I wanted 
     students to think about,'' Butler said, ``is justice.''
       For Walters, a 23-year-old Black student from Mobile, Ala., 
     the leadership class initially sounded like a welcome break 
     from typical law classes--in which professors grill students 
     with tough questions--during a busy fall when she is also 
     applying for jobs. But Walters, who is president of the 
     Georgetown Law Black Law Students Association, has been 
     struck by a number of the conversations, including 
     Butler's.
       ``It has been inspiring to have this class,'' Walters said.
       As faculty reflect in the class on their own life choices, 
     the odd zigs and zags of their careers, the abject failures 
     that turned out to be gifts and the pinnacles that 
     unexpectedly fell flat, the stories resonated with other 
     students confronting their own imminent decisions.
       People are definitely more stressed about careers this 
     fall, said Luke Bunting, a student from Indiana who has 
     worked for Republican members of Congress and is now in his 
     second year at Georgetown Law. He hopes to work for a firm 
     and make an impact, and hearing from people with such 
     different backgrounds and approaches made him more confident 
     that was possible, he said.
       Kristin Ewing, a student from Nebraska by way of a musical-
     theater career in New York, gained an interest in health-care 
     policy when she saw how performers were affected by their 
     lack of insurance. She said it was reassuring to hear 
     professors talk about career pivots.
       Rujuta Nandgaonkar, also interested in health policy--an 
     inclination cemented by the pandemic, she said--was struck by 
     Barnett's advice to surround yourself with people who 
     disagree with you, and an idea several people shared about 
     getting past the inevitable bumps in the road. ``Those are 
     important lessons for these times,'' she said.
       ``This is not the greatest time--but there is hope,'' 
     Nandgaonkar said. ``That's the string that runs through it.''
       Lesser, a high school teacher for four years before law 
     school, isn't sure what he wants to do after he graduates. 
     But he is considering options that tie into his interests in 
     democracy and criminal justice reform, such as working in a 
     prosecutor's office, judiciary committees in Congress or for 
     the military.
       After hearing Brooks talk, Lesser said, ``her lecture 
     reinforced that having a functional modern democracy is a 
     precious thing, and it can get lost easily if people aren't 
     willing to perfect it.''
       The class has been grounding, Lesser said.
       ``It reminds you of why you're doing this. That's 
     important, especially when our country is being tested, our 
     field is being tested. You have to reconnect to the values'' 
     that brought people to study the law, he said.
       Walters had gravitated during law school to apply to firms 
     because she was worried about paying off student loans. But 
     after a summer of protests following George Floyd's killing 
     in police custody, she witnessed people paint messages about 
     defunding the police near the White House, and was struck by 
     the role public defenders were playing in the community.
       The new economic uncertainty and the idealism reinforced by 
     the class reaffirmed her original commitment to go back to 
     the South--where she grew up not seeing Black lawyers, she 
     said--and work as a public defender.
       ``I'm kind of grateful to be able to do what I'm passionate 
     about,'' Walters said. ``I think it would be great to go back 
     there and try to make it the best place it could be.''

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