Emhoff, a Gould professor, shared insights from his professional journey, public service
In a wide-ranging discussion that touched on everything from law school to the White House — and Beyoncé — USC Gould School of Law Distinguished Visiting Professor Doug Emhoff spoke with Dean Franita Tolson for the Conversation with the Dean series.
Emhoff, who is former United States Second Gentleman and a graduate of the USC Gould JD Class of 1990, shared his journey through law school, big law, opening his own firm and his four years as part of the Biden Administration with Vice President Kamala Harris.
Students, faculty and staff filled Town and Gown on Sept. 17 for the talk, Emhoff’s first event with the wider Gould community since joining the law school’s faculty in July. An accomplished attorney, Emhoff also is a partner in the global law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP.
“Being a graduate of this place teaches you to raise your hand, so that’s what I did,” he said, detailing how he defined his role as the nation’s first Second Gentleman. “There are so many times where, because I was a highly trained lawyer and used to putting myself out there, being confident, believing in myself — a lot of those skills that got me where I was and still am as a lawyer, immeasurably helped.”
When asked about returning to his alma mater as a professor, he remembered attending an Alumni Mentor Lunch at Town and Gown as a first-year law student and said it was a full-circle moment to be in the same room giving a talk, more than 30 years later.
“(Professor) Scott Altman started my second or third year, and Professor (Ed) McCaffery started my second or third year, so it’s just so surreal to come back and have my office next to Scott Altman who was my advisor and was the really cool young professor when he got here,” Emhoff remembered.
He also advised the aspiring lawyers in the audience to practice active listening before going into their careers.
“I think the biggest skill to have is listening,” he said. “Get away from asking ‘what is someone saying?’ and ask ‘why is somebody saying that?’ This is a very critical skill as a lawyer. There’s a level playing field on access to information right now so you have to get good at the why. In my class and with our young associates, I tell them ‘what you do as a lawyer is not providing information, it’s providing advice,’ and the only way to really provide advice at this highest level is to listen to what the client isn’t really saying. What do they really need? And then really respond to that.”
And for the audience’s last question, one student took advantage of the moment to ask a question that was on many attendees’ minds, “Did you meet Beyoncé, and if so, how was that?”
Emhoff recalled how he met her at a concert, prior to becoming Second Gentleman, and thought to himself at the time: “It’s Beyoncé!” He added, “it’s funny that, as Second Gentleman, I was shocked at how many A-list celebrities were excited to meet me. I’d be like, wait, you know who I am?”
Click here for more photos of the event.
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