advancement of American society. Lawyers and judges in this state and others
led the fight against slavery in the last century and the fight against segregation
in this century. Lawyers and judges opened up the democratic system by
bringing cases like Baker v. Carr.
15 Our profession helped create modern
prosperity in business and industry by developing reliable commercial rules and
agreements, enforceable across state lines and even national boundaries. We
created the tools with which modern America has made so much progress in
cleaning up the environment. We are a major force in the protection of children
and others unable to care for themselves.
In short, the profession’s contributions to substantive law and America’s
institutions are worth memorializing, worth remembering, and worth praising.
We owe it to the profession and to our fellow citizens to record the best of that
story. This symposium is a splendid way to do that.