Social Justice key to Law, Nader Says

Ralph Nader, one of the country's most effective consumer advocates and social critics, spread his message of activism during his visit to Harvard on Friday.

Nader, a 1958 Harvard Law School (HLS) graduate, spoke before a packed room of nearly 500 people at the HLS Forum. Held in the Ames Courtroom, the Forum annually invites distinguished individuals to speak before members of the Harvard community and the general public.

Nader spoke on "The Laws, The Practice, The Education: Continuing Illusion or Wake Up Time?" as he questioned the role of law students and lawyers in our society's continuing fight for justice.

Too many of today's law school graduates, he said, enter corporate law instead of public interest work, resulting in an unnatural concentration of power in the hands of large corporations.

"GM could buy Delaware if DuPont were willing to sell it," he said.

Nader used much of his time to delve into the role of a lawyer, questioning who lawyers are supposed to serve and whether they fulfill their role of fighting for justice.

He used his own experiences as a HLS student to illuminate some of the problems with the education of lawyers, taking several jabs at the HLS through his accounts.

"It was the triumph of narrow expectation levels, as Harvard Law School measured success by what big law firm we were recruited by," Nader said. "We were taught to become smart by becoming narrow. It demeaned the whole tradition of the law."

Nader also expressed his view that HLS was restrictive of outward and forward looking thought.

"We were never accused of showing foresight, probably because we couldn't footnote it," Nadar quipped.

He cited fiscal problems as a reason why this still plagues law students today, explaining how a mountain of debt after college and law school leaves students unable to pursue loftier goals.

"What happens to a generation of law students when they are ready to take a pioneering leap, when they still have a residue of idealism, but are forced to drop it to go work for some huge firm in order to pay off their debt?" Nadar asked.

He spoke about how so many lawyers today get trapped in the cycle of huge firms and large retainers, watching their careers slip by in a quest for monetary reward.

"As these corporate lawyers reach their 60s and 70s, they look back as their grandchild sitting on their knee asks them what they did for a living... That's when they realize they missed the justice bandwagon," he said.

He then appealed for this not to happen to a new generation of lawyers.

"It is not enough to graduate people with wide horizons who believe in the pursuit of happiness," said Nader. "This pursuit must also include the pursuit of justice."

Raj K. Goyle, a third-year HLS student, helped to bring Nader to campus.

"Ralph is one of us," Goyle said, referring to Nader's time as a student at Harvard. "His words can be looked at as a how-to manual for Harvard Law School students on how to effect change."

Goyle added, "Rather than refuse to challenge the world he saw, he took what he learned at Harvard Law School and moved society towards his vision of social justice."

Nader also outlined his belief that Harvard can become a leader in the fight for a just society.

"It's time to use Harvard's status and prestige, its brainpower as well as its endowment to help create institutions of systemic justice," he said.

Nader has already started this path in helping to establish the Appleseed Foundation. The organization, started in 1993 by members of the 1958 HLS graduating class, describes its mission as "attacking the causes of injustice and patterns of abuse in order to strengthen justice and make democracy more productive."

Through 13 public interest law centers in 12 states that address "causes of problems instead of symptoms," the Appleseed Foundation hopes to help bring back the pursuit of justice to public interest work.

The Harvard branch of the organization, the Appleseed Center for Electoral Reform, utilizes the resources of the law school and its students to try to improve aspects of the electoral process, such as campaign finance.

Sign-up sheets were available after the speech and question-and-answer session, providing a way for those interested in getting involved in Appleseed or other activist organizations to receive more information.

"It's all about thinking critically," Goyle said. "There's a great lack of thinking critically about activism, so part of our job is to spread Nader's message."

"We're going to turn the giant ship of Harvard Law School around," Nader said, "so that it can go down in history as one of the greatest instruments of justice and institution building of any group in the United States."