Pepperdine Hosts Symposium Today on The Lawyer of the Future

I am delighted to be moderating the closing roundtable discussion at today's Pepperdine Law Review symposium on The Lawyer of the Future:

The Lawyer of the Future Symposium will showcase the lawyers of the past and present, the variety of roles they serve within American society, and what their experiences and models teach us about who the lawyers of the future can and should be. From public servents to philanthropists, government officials to business entrepreneurs, the symposium will focus on the role of lawyers as working models of the rule of law.

Each symposium presenter will articulate the role that he or she sees lawyers serving in society. Given the cacophany of public and political rhetoric concerning the practice of law, the symposium will address a new form of lawyer for the future - modeling civil discourse, orderly resolution of conflict, and informed public discussion and debate.

The underlying purpose of the symposium is to gain a better understanding of the role that American lawyers have played in the past, what challenges and opportunities they face in the present, and how lawyers will best be equipped in the future to meet the needs and expectations of their clients.

Opening Address:  Deanell Reece Tacha (Dean, Pepperdine)

Panel #1:  Lawyers of the Past

• Edward J. Larson (Pepperdine) (moderator)
• Paul D. Carrington (Duke)
• Deborah L. Rhode (Stanford)

Keynote Address:  Christopher Cox (Bingham McCutchen; former Chair, SEC and Member, U.S. House of Representatives)

Panel #2:  Lawyers as Philanthropists

• Robert F. Cochran, Jr. (Pepperdine) (moderator)
• Martin H. Blank, Jr. (Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation, Los Angeles)
• Connie Collingsworth (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation)
• Patricia Oliver (Christian Legal Aid of Los Angeles)
• Richard C. Watts (Family Business Office)

Panel #3:  Lawyers in Modern Practice

• Donald E. Childress III (Pepperdine) (moderator)
• James C. Duff (Freedom Forum)
• Stephen Gillers (NYU)
• William D. Henderson (Indiana-Bloomington)
• Malcolm Wheeler (Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell, Denver)

Panel #4:  Training Future Lawyers

• Paul L. Caron (Pepperdine) (moderator)
• James E. Moliterno (Washington & Lee)
• Martin Blank, Paul Carrington, Connie Collingsworth, James Duff, Steve Gillers, William Henderson, Patricia Oliver, Deborah Rhode, Rich Watts, Malcolm Wheeler