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CommencementSpeechatNewEngland
Law|Boston:May28,2010

CHIEFJUSTICEJOHNT.BRODERICK,JR.*

D
ean OBrien, members of the Board of Trustees, faculty, fellow
honorary degree recipients, friends, families, and especially
graduates,IwasbothdelightedandhonoredwhenIwasaskedto
speaktoyouonthisverymemorableday.
AsIstandherethismorning,IammindfuloftheadviceformerNew
YorkGovernorMarioCuomoreceivedfromhisfavoritepriestatSt.Johns
University before he delivered his first commencement address: Mario,
he said, being a commencement speaker is a lot like being a body at an
Irish wake. They need you to hold the party, but they really dont expect
you to say very much. As an Irishman myself, I know the wisdom and
truthofthatadvicesoIwilltrytofollowit.
Being here on your special occasion floods me with memories of my
own law school graduation many years past. On a beautiful spring day
much like this thirtyeight years ago, I sat in the warming sun with
hundreds of my classmates on wooden chairs stretched in precise rows
across the Lawn at the University of Virginia. I remember soaking in the
pompandcircumstance,listeningtothespeeches,oratleastpretendingto,
and trying to imagine my life as a lawyer when I left Mr. Jeffersons
University. After my years of hard work and even more years of
anticipation,IhopedthatIwouldlikethepracticeoflawandthatitwould
likemeback.Iwonderedwhethercommittingmylifetothelawandtoall
its demands would really make a differencefor me and, more
importantly, for those who would soon enough put their trust in me. On
thatgorgeousMaymorning,itallseemedabigundertakingwithalotof
unknowns and a lot of expectations. I hoped I was ready. Some of you
mighthavethosesamethoughtstoday.

*ChiefJusticeJohnT.BroderickJr.wasappointedtotheNewHampshireSupremeCourt

in1995andsworninasChiefJusticein2004.Heannouncedhisretirementfromthecourtin
June 2010. He is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and the University of Virginia
LawSchool.

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Butreadyornot,youwillshortlytakeyourplaceonthefrontlinesas
thefaceofthelegalprofessionforthefirsthalfofthetwentyfirstcentury.I
havenodoubtthatallofyouareuptothetaskandhaverealcontributions
to make and that in your own way and in your own time you will make
them.
Remember, it will take you a lifetime to build your reputation so be
both patient and vigilant with your progress. The good news is that you
gettochoosewhatyourreputationwillbe.Beassuredthatthereisnothing
worththelossofyourprofessionallicenseoryourgoodname.Nothing.As
Mark Twain once said, Few things are harder to put up with than the
annoyanceofagoodexample.Ichallengeallofyoutobeanannoyance.
The profession you have chosen is inmany ways quite different than
the one that greeted me. The profession I entered in 1972 was less
demanding by todays standards. Legal jobs were more plentiful; salaries
were less generous, but life was less expensive; personal technology was
almostnonexistent;civilitywasfairlycommon;andthebillablehourwas
more of a way to establish time spent than an engine for profitability.
Courtsweremoreaccessibleandaffordableformorepeopleandjurytrials
weremoreplentiful.Alawyerscompetitionwasusuallyonthesameblock
or in the same city, lawyer advertising was rare and frowned upon, and
lawyershadmoretimeforcivicandcommunityinvolvement.
ButtheworldIenteredthatfallhadtoofewwomenandminoritiesin
lawfirmsandlawfirmpartnerships,toofewwomenandminoritiesonthe
bench, too many glass ceilings, too much subtle intolerance for differing
views and lifestyles, too much old boy network, and too much blind
acceptanceofthestatusquo.Therehasbeenmuchprogressintheensuing
decades, for which my generation of baby boomers can be rightly proud,
butthereremainsmuchworkyettodoandmuchprogressstilltobemade.
Ichallengeyoutomakethatprogressduringyourtimeatthebar.Itisyour
generationaldutyandalegacyyouwillonedayproudlyembrace.
Todayisanextraordinarydayforallofyou.Youworkedveryhardto
behereandyouareatthebeginningofajourneythatwillfundamentally
change your lives and, if traveled well, will profoundly and positively
affect the lives of countless people you have yet to meet. You will help
definethechangingroleoflawyersandmeettheendlessdemandsofthe
professioninanageunlikeanyotherinrecordedhistory.Attheendofthe
day,yougettowriteyourownstoriesinthesenewtimes.Ichallengeyou
tomaketheminterestingand,moreimportantly,tomakethemmatter.
As you know, your chosen profession is an unbroken continuum of
scholarship, enduring principles, and public trust. Thats what all of you
are being asked to assume and safeguard today. Its stewardship is a
privilegeofthehighestorderanditsobligationsaremany.Ichallengeyou
tofulfillthoseobligationsinawaythatinspiresothers.
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2010 Commencement Speech 2010 3

All of you have benefited from the courage, dedication, and selfless
contributions of lawyers, judges, and legal scholars throughout the long
and storied history of American jurisprudence. I challenge you, in
gratitudetothosewhohavegonebeforeyou,toprepareyourshouldersfor
thenextgenerationoflawyerstostandon.Itspartofyourobligationtoa
professionolderthantheConstitutionandessentialtoorderedlibertyina
freesociety.
As you leave this great law school today, diploma in hand, you are
destined for uncharted territory where your predecessors have not gone.
Youwillbethefirstgenerationoflawyerstopracticelawinaflatworld
and despite rising costs, you will need to find new ways to remain
affordable and accessible while maintaining the highest ethical and
professional standards. You will help shape the very face of justice in
America in an era of unprecedented change. You will cut and mark the
trails, help write the rules, and be expected to root out injustice and
discriminationwherevertheircorruptinginfluencetakeshold.
Youwillalsodecidewhetherthepracticeoflawremainsaprofession
orwhetherbusinessprincipleswillintimeconsumeitspublicimportance
and undermine its constitutional foundation. I hope you conclude that
accesstojusticeisnotacommodity,aproducttobepackaged,promoted
and sold; but rather a responsibility bestowed on you with nearsacred
trust.
Your generation of lawyers and judges will be called upon in many
waysandinvariedcircumstancestodecidewhetherstatecourtsaretruly
opentoallourpeopleorwhethertheywillserveonlythewealthyandthe
welltodo.Ajusticesystem,whichpullsupthegangwayonthepoorand
the middle class, is no justice system at all and will not long maintain
public respect. I challenge you to stand watch over the constitutional
guaranteesofoursystemofjusticethatareonlyabirthrightifyouprotect
them. I urge you, particularly, to remember the disadvantaged, the left
out,andtheleftbehind.Thereisnohighercallingforanylawyerthan
probonoserviceandnopurposemoreimportanttoourjusticesystemthat
canonlysurviveifitretainspublictrustandconfidence.Ichallengeallof
you to lend your voices and skills to the underserved. You will never
derivegreaterprofessionalorpersonalsatisfactionasalawyer.
All of you have been given tools during your time here to shape the
law and tailor it to the needs of an evolving society, in a world
unimaginablewhenIsatwhereyouarenowsitting.Ihopeyouuseyour
tools to advocate for others, to eradicate continuing vestiges of social,
political,andeconomicinjusticeandtosafeguardtherightsandlibertiesof
all in a world made both more invasive and more anonymous with each
newdevelopmentininternettechnology.Howwiselyandhowoftenyou
useyourtoolsandtalentswillhelpshapeyourlegacyasthefreshmanclass
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4 NewEnglandLawReview v.45|1

ofthetwentyfirstcentury.Alotofpeoplewillbewatching,butevenmore
willbecountingonyou.
As you begin your legal career, please know that your chosen
professionrequiresalifetimeoflearningandadaptingtochange.Youwill
always be in a state of becoming. The practice of law is a calling not a
destination.Indeed,theolderIgetthemoreIrealizehowmuchmorethere
is to know and explore. The law is like that and with every question it
answers, new questions appear. I challenge you to find the unanswered
questions and to propose answers. I also encourage you to challenge
conventionwhennecessarytoadvancetherightsofothers,evenwhenitis
unpopular, especially when it is unpopular. The status quo is never
preordainedandisoftennottherightanswer.
Inallmyyearsasalawyerandjudge,Ihavecometoappreciatethat
thereisnoinconsistencybetweenbeingastaunchadvocateandacivilone.
Thegreatlawyersarealwaysrememberedandadmiredfortheirwisdom,
their courtesy, and their character, not for sharp tongues or for cutting
corners to seize momentary advantage. I challenge you to become great
lawyers.
I encourage you to constantly remindyourself of your fiduciary duty
totheprofession,andtoneverlosesightofthefactthatthelawisafinely
tuned instrument in the hands of the skilled lawyer. I challenge you to
becomeone.
I urge you to never lose your idealism. Some of the laws greatest
moments and proudest history were made possible by idealists, often
againstgreatodds.Whiteonlysignsmightstillexistinthiscountryifit
were not for the courage and conviction of idealists who saw wrong and
triedtorightit.Lawwillneverreachitsfullpotentialwithoutthevisionan
idealist offers. I challenge you to remain idealists and to consider public
serviceeitherasacareerorasawaytogiveback.Itisnevereasy,butitis
alwaysimportant.
In the twentythree years I practiced law, no one, other than my first
employer,everaskedmehowIdidinlawschoolorevenwhereIwentto
lawschool.Myclientswereproperlyfocusedontheirownproblemsand
howImightbesthelpthem.Ihavelearnedovermyyearsofpracticeand
judging that not all the best lawyers have the best transcripts. One of the
lawyerswhomostinfluencedmygrowthapparentlydidnotpassthebar
examonhisfirsttry.Hewasagreatlawyerwhoremainsagianttomeand
had much to do with my standing here this morning as Chief Justice of
New Hampshire. Character, integrity, and sound judgment will have as
much or more to do with your successas your finalgrade point average,
probably more. No one will ever likely know or remember you for your
class rank, whether high or low, but you may be remembered if you use
your gifts for the benefit of others less gifted. I challenge you to be
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2010 Commencement Speech 2010 5

remembered.
BeforeIclose,Ihaveonesuggestiontooffer.Itissimpleandpainless
andmayilluminateyourpathintheyearsahead.Onmyfirstdayatwork
in 1972 at the Attorney Generals Office on Beacon Hill, just a short
distance from where we are gathered, I wrote down on a piece of white
linedpaperwhyIwenttolawschoolandhowIwantedtoberemembered
bycolleaguesandfriendswhenmycareerwasthrough.Overtheensuing
years,ondifficultdaysordayswhenIgotcaughtupintherushandfalse
urgency of the moment, I would find myself taking that folded piece of
paperfrommytopdeskdrawerinthequietandprivacyofmyofficejust
to take stock. My notes allowed me to get in touch, once again,with that
aspiring young lawyer from 1972 who was filled with idealism and hope
and who had quite deliberately joined a noble profession for a purpose
larger than himself. My notes have served as a wonderful compass, both
then and now. It is in that spirit that I challenge all of you to make your
ownnotesandtomakeyourdreamsyourcareer.
Finally, let me say that as a proud native son of this great
Commonwealth and borrowing from President Kennedy, as I leave here
today I can say with pride that I now have the best of both worldsa
VirginiaeducationandaNewEnglandLawdegree.