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Pepperdine Law Students Sit Down with Chief Justice John Roberts

story > Lyric Hassler

Years after graduating from law school, 100 Pepperdine School of Law students will look back fondly on March 8, 2006, when they participated in a private audience with the 17th chief justice of the United States, John G. Roberts.

In advance of his fi rst public appearance since his installation as chief justice of the United States, the highest ranking justice in the nation met with the Pepperdine law students at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. That historic moment, that time and place, is the kind of event you look back on and tell your children and grandchildren about.

For one hour prior to his public lecture to more than a thousand members of the audience, Chief Justice Roberts addressed the select group of Pepperdine law students in the library's auditorium. Roberts held their attention and was recalled later for his humility and profound intellect.


Dean Ken Starr engages Chief
Justice Roberts in conversation
during Roberts' March 8 talk to
Pepperdine law students.

Through a conversation guided by longtime friend, former colleague, and School of Law dean Ken Starr, Roberts provoked the room of attorneys-in-training with insight on topics ranging from his distinguished judicial predecessors, his legal career, and the late President Ronald Reagan. Concluding his time with the students, Roberts entertained pre-selected questions submitted by the students.

"Ronald Reagan was always called the 'Great Communicator,'" Roberts, explained at one point. "But, I always thought the title was somewhat of a disservice to him. He was a great communicator because he believed in the ideas he communicated." "Furthermore," he continued, "Ronald Reagan knew his ideals and they account for his political success." Boil your thoughts down, Roberts told the students. "If you want to convey legal ideas forcefully, you must know what they are at their most basic level."

This is the voice of tempered wisdom, spoken by a man who by many accounts, has already seen success in the legal world's most esteemed post, judging by the unanimity of the supreme court decisions already handed down under his authority. Explaining his perspective to the students, Roberts hearkened repeatedly to the ideals and practices of President Reagan, the late Chief Justice Rehnquist, and the late and acclaimed jurist Henry Friendly, having served as a law clerk for both Rehnquist and Friendly. These ideals have already been refl ected in his judicial opinions and in his practices both on and off the bench. This is evidenced by the increased discussions among the justices in the conference that takes place after the court hears the cases.

At varying times, the chief justice elicited laughter from the crowd with his masterful and complimentary imitations of Rehnquist, Reagan, and Friendly. Although typically soft-spoken, Roberts was not soft on meaning, perfectly delivering the importance of these heroes' convictions along with the unique mannerisms of the original deliverers. "If you want to spend time with your young children," he quoted of Rehnquist, "then you have to do it when they're young."

As the youngest chief justice ever sworn into the Supreme Court, it seemed only fi tting that he address the joys of raising a young family through his dynamic career and new position. To a chorus of laughter, he addressed the impromptu theatrics of his then four-year-son, Jack, during the announcement of his post on national television.

"What's refreshing about having a young child around is that a fi ve-year-old isn't terribly impressed that his dad is a chief justice," The chief refl ected. "The only question he had was 'Daddy, do you get a sword?'" Jack, Roberts explained, was thinking of the sword that the statue of Lady Justice grasps in her vigil outside of the U.S. Supreme Court building.


Chief Justice Roberts is welcomed by Pepperdine law
students as he enters the private room where he
addressed them.

Several students noted afterward, that they saw that Roberts has an incredible love for the process of justice in America and the role of lawyers in it. While describing the institution of independent judicial review as "the single greatest contribution of the United States' political founders," Roberts issued a somber call to the students of law to "earn back the respect from America that the legal profession has lost in recent decades" through its trade of signifi cant cultural and community involvement for a heftier paycheck.

When the private interview was over, the temporary walls forming the meeting room were pulled back and the law students became 100 of the 1,000 people waiting to hear his address from the main Reagan Library podium. But, the students remained in thoughtful conversation, savoring the opportunity just presented them. Said then third-year student Jamie Chanin: "That was a proud and inspiring moment in my legal education."

"Not only was Chief Justice Roberts' talk interesting as well as inspiring, but simply the opportunity of being in the presence of such an amazing man and legal thinker was incredible," refl ected Lauren Park, a then fi rst-year law student.

Years from now, those same Pepperdine students, further along the paths of their own legal careers, will recall the moment with clarity. Said one, "These are occasions that you not only never forget, but you cherish."

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