Gergen Tells HLS Graduates To Make Law Meaningful

The field of law is in desperate need of some changes--at least according to David R. Gergen.

In his Class Day address on the Law School's (HLS) Holmes Field yesterday afternoon, Kennedy School of Government Public Service Professor David R. Gergen recalled the days when law was a profession that "instilled in its practitioners a sense of inner satisfaction."

Under a cloudy sky in front of Langdell Library, as the mingled scents of fresh-cut grass and perfume wafted through the air, the former presidential adviser took his audience of graduating law students and their proud parents on a journey through law's past, present and future.

Gergen, who is also an editor-at-large for U.S. News & World Report, said society's focus on commercialism has transformed law, as well as medicine and other professions that were once considered reputable and fulfilling.

"A cloud now hovers over many of America's most honorable professions," said Gergen, who worked in the Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton White Houses.

He blamed excessive requirements for the number of hours billed per week as one reason that lawyers today are less enthused about their professions than were lawyers in years past.

Gergen, who graduated from the law school in 1967, cited American Bar Association statistics indicating that 15 to 20 percent of all lawyers suffer from alcoholism and drug abuse--twice the national average--and a Johns Hopkins study which found that law is the leading profession in incidence of depression in America.

He then exhorted the HLS class of 1999 to return law to its heyday.

Gergen challenged the graduates to find a field of specialization that they felt passionate about.

"Make sure it's something that returns more than dollars," he entreated.

He urged the graduates to make public service and a devotion to morals part of their lives, be it directly through their careers or through volunteer work in their communities.

But Gergen also relieved students of some imminent guilt, citing the $68,000 average debt load of HLS graduates upon graduation.

"Within the next few years, most of you will become concerned about personal advancement and about money," he said. "It's only natural."

He appealed to them, though, to use the skills they've learned over the past three years to change the status quo as well as pay their bills.

"You were prepared here for combat in the courtroom, in briefs and with other lawyers," he said. "But even more important than that is to fight the system."

"Your is the generation that can save our souls," Gergen said in his conclusion.

After the speech, audience members had mixed feelings.

Most agreed with his emphasis on public service.

"He had some good words of wisdom about the family and public service," said Danielle R. Holley, a graduating law student. "It's a message I think most of us should hear before we graduate."

But some felt that his plea to return to the law of old was a bit off the mark.

"He said the profession has to go back, but I don't think it has to go back," said Leesa M. Eichner, another third-year law student, mentioning the all-white, all-male status of law in the past. "We need to adapt to the realities of life today."

Eichner's father, Martin Klepper, said though he agreed with his daughter, he wasn't surprised by Gergen's message.

"He's a conservative, and he gave a conservative speech," Klepper said. "What's wrong with all the wonderful changes that have occurred?"