Caps Off to New Grads

USC Law salutes the Class of 2010 at commencement

by Darren Schenck

Photos by Maria Iacobo

More than 300 USC Law graduates walked off the law school stage May 14 and on to the next act of their promising legal careers during a joyful and poignant commencement ceremony.

California State Bar President Howard Miller addresses the graduates

USC Law Dean Robert K. Rasmussen congratulated the Class of 2010 and offered praise and encouragement for the nearly 200 J.D. candidates, 120 LL.M. students and two M.C.L. graduates. USC President Steven B. Sample, who concludes his 19-year tenure as university president this summer, handed diplomas to the newly minted J.D. and LL.M.s as a boisterous crowd of friends and family members cheered.

“For the past three years, we have taught you to question how results could be better, more just, more efficient, or more socially desirable,” Dean Rasmussen told the graduating class. “We have taught you to be creative in your approaches to every challenge, every policy, every assumption. Those instincts will serve you well in the present climate; in fact they are essential.”

LL.M. grad Moises Amsel and 2010 Class Pres. Laura Riley spoke to classmates

2010 Class President Laura Riley addressed the graduates, urging them to thank the family members, friends and faculty members who helped lead them to this occasion. Speaking on behalf of the LL.M. students, Venezuela native Moises Amsel expressed his gratitude to USC Law and encouraged graduates to remember the many wonderful moments that law school provided.

The commencement address was delivered by California State Bar President and former USC Law Prof. Howard B. Miller, who spoke of the scores of conversations he has had with attorneys over the years, as both a law professor and practitioner.

“The most striking thing about the conversations with the young lawyers, was when they began to sense…the enormous responsibility that you have for others when you become a lawyer,” Miller said. “You have people’s lives in your hands. And sometimes that comes as a bit of a shock.

“I say that because that’s what it means to be a lawyer. Lawyers exist to help clients, to help others, to act in the public interest. There’s no other reason for our existence.”

The commencement ceremony webcast can be viewed online.