I congratulate you on this achievement. You have sacrificed a considerable amount of your time on earth. You have mastered a strange new language. You have postponed the start of your vocation. You've been swept up in rapid rumors in job opportunities and job conditions. You've changed your daily worth ethics, and you have foregone many of life's simple pleasures. Some of you have earned special recognition this afternoon, and we all congratulate you.But, tomorrow, my friends, the slate is wiped clean again. Prospective clients don't inquire about class rank. The local bar association you will join does not have a special class of membership for law review staffs. Judges and jurors will not ask to see your resume.You will be evaluated instead by your product, your energy, your temperament and your backbone. The reputation you develop for intellectual and ethical integrity will be your greatest asset or your worst enemy. You will be judged by your judgment.The practice of law you've already learned does not lend itself to true-and-self analysis. If the problem is black or white, the client does not need a lawyer.Instead, your challenge will be to use your education and all your life's experiences to exercise good judgment to select from among the shades of gray....Practice law with consideration and courtesy. No matter how righteous the cause or clear your victory, assure that your adversary with his or her client leaves with dignity.As Judge Perry Withmore in Little Rock used to tell us, you can disagree without being disagreeable. Besides, your adversary today may be your judge tomorrow.Following the bar exam, your most difficult test will not be of what you know but what is your character. Some of you will fail.The class of 1971 had many distinguished members who also went on to achieve high public office. But it also had several who forfeited their license to practice law. Blinded by greed, some served time in prison.I cannot make this point to you too strongly. There is no victory, no advantage, no fee, no favor which is worth even a blemish on your reputation for intellect and integrity....Dents to the reputation in the legal profession are irreparable. Every lawyer I know carries around a mental black book which is recorded in indelible ink the names of his adversaries who breached the presumption of good-faith dealing....This ceremony is called a commencement because it's a new journey. Your law school studies are completed, but your education is just under way. Continue to study, but don't limit your studies to the law. If you strife to become a great lawyer, you must be more than a lawyer.We are defined as persons and lawyers by the depth and variety of our experiences. Continue to broaden your horizons. Read religiously--works other than law.Travel. By all means travel every chance, everywhere you can. Travel the back roads, not the interstates. Mingle with those of different background and culture and ages....Take time out for yourself. Have some fun, go fishing, every once in a while take a walk in the woods by yourself. Learn to relax, watch more sunsets. Those of you who do not have your life planned out, don't worry. It wouldn't turn out the way you planned it in any event....I hope you will consider trying the wide variety of professional opportunities that the practice of law will offer you. Spend some time in public service, whether as an assistant to the prosecutor or a public defender, or a legal service program. Or go to Washington and work for a congressional delegation or one of the feral agencies. Or go to your state capitol and work for a state agency or state commission. Or run for the legislature, school board, city council, or teach at your community college.But whatever you do, choose a professional life that satisfies you and helps others. If you find yourself getting burned out or unfulfilled, unappreciated or the profits become more important than your work, then have the courage to make a change.
Roads We Should Travel, Commencement Address on May 8, 1993
by Vincent W. Foster, Jr
The Law School, University of Anskansas
