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- good afternoon. my name is gail agrawal andi am delighted to welcome you to the 2016 graduation ceremony for the iowa college of law. today, i am joined on the platform by president bruce harreld,the 21st president of the university of iowawho joins us on his first commencement weekend as our president, today's commencement speaker,the honorable thad collins,

class of 1990, and ofcourse, by the extraordinary faculty of the iowa college of law. the faculty and i areespecially pleased that iowa's newest federal magistrate judge, the honorable c.j. williamsand a member of our adjunct faculty, is with us on the stage. i also want to acknowledgeprofessor john whiston, the herschel langdonclinical professor of law, who joins us for his final commencement

as a member of our full-time faculty. he will retire this summer. to john, a sincere thankyou and best wishes on your next adventurefrom all of us who have had the great privilege ofbeing your colleagues, your friends, and your students. he didn't know i was gonna do that and he doesn't like it. on behalf of the college oflaw, i extend a special welcome

and sincere congratulationsto our most honored guests, the spouses and partners, the parents and grandparents, thechildren, the family, and the friends of today's graduates. thank you for supporting our students through their abject terrorabout that first set of law school exams, for comforting them and encouraging them when things didn't goexactly the way they hoped,

and for cheering with us on their truly extraordinary achievements from orientation to graduation. i know that withoutyour unwavering support, these newly-minted,soon-to-be licensed lawyers would not be here today, so graduates, give a hand to yourfamilies and your friends. (applause) addressing the graduates inthe last few fleeting moments

they will spend as law school students is one of the greatjoys of serving as dean. this commencementexercise is literally one for our history book asthe iowa college of law graduates its 150th class with this marvelous group of students. the college of law, give 'em ahand, we'll do a lot of that. the college of law tracesits origins to march, 1865. while waiting for thelegislature to act on a

recommendation toestablish a law department here at the university ofiowa, judge george wright and judge chester colebegan teaching law students out of a des moines law office. i have to say, there was a lot less law, or there must have be, to be learned then because just over a yearlater in november of 1866, the first class graduated, and now, you claim your well-deservedplace in this proud tradition

of the iowa law school's history. now, i know that thesmall size of this class, this hat's bothering me, thatthe small size of this class will inevitably be atopic for discussion today as it was when you began your law studies, but it's all relative. i want you to know that you aremore than eight times larger than the first class (audience laughter). you're also more gender balancedand geographically diverse

than that first classwhich consisted of 12 guys. you come from 28 states across the nation, from river to river acrossiowa, and from three other nations around the world, evidence that the iowacollege of law of today is simultaneously foriowa and world-class. every class has a defining trait, and for the class of2016, the word that will always come to my mind is bold.

when i welcomed you on a nice iowa day in august, 2013, three very short years ago, all eyes were on your small size. you matriculated at a timewhen the drum beat of criticism of the legal professionand legal education seemed relentless, and the faint-of-heart were steering away from studying law. but like the great lawyersyou will surely become,

you were not deterred. in your 2l year, your numberwas increased by nearly a dozen international lawyers, who, demonstrating their ownboldness, joined us for the new advanced standing jd program,adding knowledge of their own legal systems and theirworld views to this class. from the beginning, the facultyand i were confident in you, in part because you seemedto see your path so clearly. now, i know this is badform, but today i cannot

resist saying to anyone whoever doubted the members of this littleclass-that-could, we told you so and i know no one in thatnumber is in this room today. and while i'm on the thingsthat i never get to say, i'm gonna quote thelegendary, if fictional, professor kingsfield,for the very first time in my academic career. look to your right, look to your left, we are here today to celebrate

what you have accomplished together. i do have to admit thatin those early days, your promise was not always on prominent display. there were some creative and wildly wrong responses to questions posed by your teachers. there was the occasional,somewhat puzzling question, what's the difference betweengreen acre and white acre,

for example, (audiencelaughter) you know who you are. more than once, the facultyand i reminded ourselves that the late justiceantonin scalia always said that his first-year law teachershad reorganized his brain. surely you just needed alittle bit more reorganizing. eventually, you showedmastery of pearson v. post and pennoyer versus neff, you seemed to survive theshared terror of the first oral argument in law 2,

relatively unscathed, you weren't deterredby the snow or the ice on a slippery bridge fromthe parking lot to blb on the day of the dreadedproperty law final, and i can report that not a single torte occurred on that day. justice oliver wendell holmes said that "the law is the calling of thinkers," and each of you hasbeen called to the law,

but you might rememberthat as i cautioned you at orientation, there's no prodigy born knowing how to think like a lawyer. with some considerable effort,you have been tranformed into deeply analytical thinkers who permit no half-baked assertion, no lapse in logic by anyone, anywhere ever to go unidentified or unchallenged. as a dean, i congratulateyou and all of your

long-suffering teachers onthis remarkable achievement. and to everybody inthe audience who shared those law school years, myfaculty, colleagues, and i today apologize for any collateral damage you may have suffered as thelaw student in your midst was learning to thinkand argue like a lawyer. i hope you agree it was worth it. as i stand here today andreflect on your singular accomplishments as a class,it seems very appropriate

that you are our 150th class. this year, the iowa law review earned its highest ranking ever, number 15 among englishlanguage law journals and number 14 in citation count. the journal of corporationlaw ranked second in the specialty journals,mere tenths-of-a-point behind number one yale, and mr. president, 25 points ahead of harvard'sbusiness law journal.

(audience hollering and applause) this year, the trial teamfinished in the top eight in the nation, eventuallylosing to the ultimate winning team from that school harvard. the national moot court team under justice davidbaker's skilled coaching, emerged victorious from the regionals and headed to new york, andprofessor bohannon celebrated as the patent law team swept the regionals

before heading to washington d.c. and although everybody inthis room knows that we are actually much better thanthis, us news reports that we are ranked number 20among all law schools and number six among public law schools in the united states. what a year it has been. as president emeritus sandyboyd often reminds us, it is people, not buildings,that make great institutions,

and the people in thisclass have already done more than your part to advance an iowa law tradition of greatness. over the course of threeyears, the members of this small but mighty class, have provided 6,867 hours of pro-bono and community service. if you're doing the math,that equates to 286 days or nine-and-a-half months.

the class of 2016 alreadymaking the present and the future better for iowans. you have given us the intellects of jared adam and robert fitzgerald, hancher-finkbine medallionwinner, dr. alex lodge, the inspired studentleadership of molly mcdonnell and crystal pound, thehospitality of jacob kline, and his hostess wife, honorary 3l, alice, the hawkeye pride of john whelen,

the unflagging optimismof kwesi atta-krah, and the work ethic of everymember of the editorial boards of our four student-edited journals, and the moot court board. with fewer students todo the heavy lifting, you not only stayed thecourse, you excelled. perhaps, most significant of all, over three years of law school, not a single member ofthis class did anything

to land iowa law in thepages of above the law (audience laughter) and for that, i am really, really eternally grateful. together we experienced the retirement of the legendary and belovedprofessor arthur bonfield. after 53 1/2 years ofteaching, you are officially, his last class, but hewanted me to assure you that it wasn't personal(audience laughter). he knew you were listeningand he knew you cared.

(audience laughter) we welcomed, it's alittle insider-baseball, we welcomed a seemingly endless parade of presidential candidates to our state. for a while, the linethat earned a speaker the greatest applause was i amnot running for president. and we celebrated going to the rose bowl, at least until the gamestarted (audience laughter). now, you would think thatafter all we have shared

over the last three years, i could identify, forthis assembled group, even one of you who has some small reluctance to leave us, but i worry that such an obvious lie in front of so manyhighly-credible witnesses would prompt the board of bar examiners to conduct a characterand fitness inquiry of me. therefore, we're gonnalet today's record reflect

that you are apparentlymuch more enthusiastic about leaving us than weare about seeing you go. among you are immigrants andfirst-generation americans as well as second andthird generation hawkeyes. to all the lawyers, iowa lawyers, parents and grandparents,aunts and uncles, who entrusted your children to us so that they might follow inyour footsteps in the law, you have paid us a highcompliment and i thank you.

others of you are like me,the first in your family to graduate from college and go on to earn a doctoral-level degree. i know first-hand that your time here will change the direction of your lives. you are an extraordinarygroup of very soon-to-be licensed lawyers, clearly worthy of being the 150th class of this marvelous law school.

i was honored to welcome you as 1ls, and along with the faculty,i feel very privileged to have spent these lastthree years with you. i want to thank you nowfor all you have done and all you will do to contribute to the great tradition of theiowa college of law. when i next talk to you,you'll be on the verge of becoming our newestalumni, so congratulations. and now, it's time for meto relinquish the podium

to one of your own. i invite daniel j.olinghouse, elected speaker of the class of 2016, to the podium. - [voiceover] football'son tv. (audience laughter) - to fold that out, thank you dean. wow, alright, friday the 13th, pumped. who's idea was this, by theway? (audience laughter) if you'll check under yourchairs, ladies and gentlemen, there are some black catsto play with and some

mirrors to break, go aheadand get this party started. good afternoon, i'm deeplyhonored that the class of 2016 has chosen me to addressyou all here today. i have to say that i've beento a few of these things now, so i can promise you that inreturn for this great honor, i'm gonna keep it short and not too sappy. i want to start off bythanking the faculty and staff of the college of law. their hard work and educationis just one of many reasons

that iowa law is consistentlyrated one of the finest institutions in the countryto obtain a legal education. let's give 'em a round of applause. then i gotta make sure isay thank you to all the family, friends, and lovedones who have been our rocks during this whole law school thing. thank you, on behalf of the class of 2016. and of course, i wannarecognize our guests of honor, my friends and colleagues,the class of 2016.

over the past three years,i have had the opportunity to work alongside with a lotof them on various projects. at the very least, i've had anopportunity to chat with 'em and i gotta say that i'venever encountered a more impressive, more intimidatinggroup of folks in my life. we might be the smallest iowalaw class since the 1800s, but our little cadre packs a punch. for example, we've got peoplewho served in americorps, teach for america, and the peace corps.

we've got service industryprofessionals like myself, and members of our military. we've got phds, doctors,masters degree holders, engineers, cpas, and folkswho left successful careers before coming to iowa to get their jds. in some ways, the liveswe led before law school faded away when wewalked through the doors of the boyd law building on day one, but in many others, the patchworkof different backgrounds

and viewpoints that weencountered during our time here has undoubtedly contributedto a more vibrant and enriching legal education for us all. but it wasn't easy. make no mistake aboutit, law school's hard. i mean, it's virtuallyimpossible to play candy crush on your phone and takenotes at the same time. i'm not gonna speak foranybody else in the room, but i gained about 1,000 pounds

over the past couple of years. i'm probably gonna be doing situps until i pay off thiscrippling student loan debt. that's a long time. and don't get me started on networking. it's kinda been my own personal nightmare, although i'm pretty sure at this point, i'm connected on linkedin with all the pizza delivery drivers in iowa city

so at least i've got that going for me. it's been tough, guys, butlike many others of us, in the class of 2016, i was able to find the love of my life during law school. our librarian, ellen jones's candy bowl, has been there for us (audience laughter), it's been there for uswhen we just didn't think we could go on, whenwe were stuck in those mandatory plagiarism seminarsour first and second years,

it was those littlereeces peanut butter cups that kept our bloodsugars just high enough to make it seem like wewere paying attention. and during those lawrlectures about all those actual, physical booksthat we will never open because we have the internet, it was those tiny bags ofskittles that reminded us to keep going becausewe're entering an ancient and respected profession.

of course, a lot of uswere confused about how it ever existed before google, but we had skittles. but as difficult as law school has been, many of us realize, or atleast they should realize, that this is just thebeginning, that once we walk this stage today, ourperspectives are going to change. our perspective is theway we see the world, the way we process it and understand it.

it isn't quite fluid but itisn't set in stone, either. i found that it tends to shift over time or completely changewhen we're impacted by really important events ormilestones in our lives. for example, i bet ifyou ask your graduate who was the first person toget called on in their class, they could tell youall the details of that harrowing moment in time. that first real class, andindeed that whole first semester,

was terrifying for everyone. people were on edge. i remember who it was in my section. we were in propertywith professor gallanis, favorite class, by the way. it was a morning class,so not a lot of us were very excited to be there. we started off with theintroduction and the road map for the course, thenwe jumped into the material.

before you knew it, itwas time for a question. the professor looked around,glanced at the seating chart, for that brief period of time, we were all in the danger zone. and for what felt like years,you could hear a pin drop. then his glance shot upfrom the seating chart into the audience ashe said, miss sargent, the collectivesigh-of-relief from everyone except miss sargent, it was deafening.

by the way, she killed it. by now, though, the prospectof getting called on just doesn't scare us anymore. our perspective on lawschool classes has changed. now if a professor calls onus, we're either prepared, not likely, experiencedenough to seem prepared, although we're not fooling anybody, or simply comfortable withthe phrase i'll pass today. you know who you are.

there are countlessexamples of ways that we've shifted our perspectivessince beginning law school, but i want to share with youa much more profound shift in my own perspective thatoccurred a little over a month ago when a relative of mine lost his battle with cancer. i wasn't particularly close to him, but he received treatmenthere in iowa city, and periodically camehere from des moines.

naturally, as the onlyperson in my family residing in iowa city, he wouldask me to lunch or dinner when he came into town, so i went. like i said, we weren't tooclose, we didn't see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, but without fail, every time he would cometo town, he would ask are you okay, do youneed anything from me, you need to borrow my truck, want me to haul anything for ya?

didn't really hit meuntil after we lost him that this guy was literallyfighting for his life and he was asking me if i was okay, he was concerned aboutme and wanted to help me. now here i am, healthy,young, single, ladies, guy about to graduate from one ofthe finest legal institutions in the country, and he'sasking me if i need anything. after he passed, i heard story after story about his generosity and kindness

and that really resonated with me. as i've contemplated the lastthree years of law school and what it's meant tome, i of course, remember the all-nighters, theon-campus interviews, and the stress of finals,but i also couldn't help but think about him and his legacy of putting others before himself. so, as i prepare to walk across the stage, i'm reminded of some ofthe reasons i decided

to come to law school, andi'm shocked at how different my mindset is now from when i started. cell phones off please. it's not really an earth-shatteringrevelation or anything, but i now understand thateven though a lot of what we have done this last threeyears has been for ourselves, what we've really done isprepare for all those folks we will encounter in ourlifetimes who will come to us for our advice, support, and guidance,

for all those people who aregonna come to us for help. whether you're gonna be a corporate lawyer who helps companies go public,a trust and estates lawyer who helps folks plan for the future, or a law professor who helpsstudents have mental breakdowns and learn to think like a lawyer, they're gonna be helpingsomebody to do something that they couldn't do themselvesand that, at least to me, is what this last threeyears has all been about.

so, as much as we'vestruggled and strained over the past three years to improve ourselves, but mostly our resumes, wemust now shift our perspectives to how we're gonna use what we've learned to help that buddingconglomerate trying to take over the world one day, tohelp that elderly couple trying to plan for theirfamily's future, or that accused person who's justlooking for a little justice. we have to shift ourperspectives from law student

to confidante, from lawstudent to advocate, from law student to champion, and from law student to helper because law school has beenbut three short years for us, but it's the beginning of alifetime of helping others. thank you. - i said they were great, didn't i? thank you, daniel, foran inspiring speech. i am now honored to introducethe 2016 commencement speaker,

the honorable thad collins. judge collins is a chief judge of the united states bankruptcy court for the northern district of iowa. he earned his undergraduate degree from macalester college before matriculating at the university of iowa college of law. he's a member of our classof 1990 and one of our most loyal and dedicated alumni.

following graduation,judge collins served as a judicial law clerk to thehonorable michael melloy, also a graduate, he thenpracticed law with the firm of pickens, barnes andabernathy in cedar rapids before joining the court in 2010. please join me in welcomingjudge collins to the podium. - the law student'sspeech was really great, except he gave me alittle chill down my spine when he mentioned fridaythe 13th and black cats.

we've got a black cat thatlives right across the street that i see every single dayso off to an ominous start. now, when i start amediation, i always say to the parties, every single time, today is a day of promise and opportunity and it's a day of promise and opportunity if you're ready to seize it,it's kinda the kicker on that. so my theme today is gonnabe seizing the promise and opportunity outthere on the road ahead

for the iowa law grad. graduation lends itselfto lots of lofty talk of the road ahead and thepromise and opportunity that's out there, it'sa really unique spot, it sits in that gap betweenlawyer and law student, between end of formal education and beginning a professional life. so, today what i'm gonna tryto do is offer some ideas about promise and opportunityon that road ahead

in sort of a final law school lecture meets orientation toyour new practice life. now, this is a big day andthis is a really grand setting and when i say it's a grandsetting, i'm not exaggerating. this memorial union hasplayed host to the likes of martin luther king, jr., john f. kennedy, george h. w. bush,numerous other presidents, numerous other writers like kurt vonnegut, maya angelou, celebritiesof sort like tom brokaw,

bono, the lead signer ofu2, and renowned scientist neil degrasse tyson, dukeellington played this room. this is a big room, this is a big deal. so now you're looking around going okay, where's our duke ellington,where's our jfk, jr.? no, you've got me, right? it's fair to ask yourself why, why do i have this guy,it's a fair question and i'll tell you why, becausei'm one of these people,

i'm a proud iowa grad,and the truth be told, i'm a pretty average iowagrad and that's the truth. but i'm very proud of thateducation, i'm very proud of the time i've had atthe university of iowa, and i wanna offer somethoughts that tie in to the university, tie in to my life here, but let's start with some wordsfrom the poet walt whitman. walt whitman is the subjectof a quarterly journal published here at the university of iowa

and we're very proud of that. in his song of the openroad, walt whitman writes, "afoot and light-heartedi take to the open road, "healthy, free, the world before me, "the long brown path before meleading wherever i choose. " i'm gonna encourage you toembrace that optimism today. embrace that optimismabout that open road ahead, i think it's warranted, buti will say i didn't have that same optimism as i sathere as a law grad 26 years ago.

in retrospect, i shouldhave, my career tells me so. i have had a wonderful career,i've had great clerkships with some of the best judgesto ever wear the robe, i was in a big law, big citypractice and it was wonderful. i moved back to iowa and hada wonderful trial practice and i actually got to serve as a mediator. now i've got this incrediblejob, i get to work with students like roy leaf andpeter chalik as student externs, i get to hire a lot ofiowa grads as law clerks,

it's really an amazing thing. and by the way, i'll justnote that i found out today that actually i'm in akickboxing class with one of the law students as well, so, but it's great to be amongyoung people who are coming out and looking at that roadahead and i'm so privileged to be a part of it. now, before you startthinking, boy this guy's, he maybe has a little bit ofa high opinion of himself now

with all this good fortune,let me offer you a story to kind of assure you thati remain really well-rooted. recently, i made the mistakeof bringing my daughter and my son to work, that was part one, and part two was allowingmy law clerk and my student intern to show 'emaround the building without me. so, as my law clerk and internwere doing what they do, they were going around andtalking about the judge this and the judge that and soundedlike i was really a big deal,

my daughter pipes in and goesare you talking about my dad? and they were like, well,ernest and i, yes, yes, we are and they just both burst outlaughing (audience laughter). they went on to tell thatyou guys need to know, he's really kind of adork, and he's also a guy that's been in a lot ofembarrassing situations, let me tell you all about 'em,and you know how kids are, a little wild exaggeration never hurts, so i remain very well-rooted and grounded

and will for a very long time. now, during law school,even though i was average, i did get a little taste of what might be the opportunity outthere, i got to extern for then bankruptcy judge michael j. melloy. now, my beloved judge melloyand his recent iowa grad law clerk, mark surrey, justmade my experience fantastic, it meant a lot to me. then my beloved professorbauer joined team collins,

got on board to helpme plod my path forward in bankruptcy law, but at graduation, i was sitting out theregoing i'm still average and i still have kindof a hodge-podge resume and because i was average,i put in my own mind some artificial limitsand restrictive lines on where i thought mycareer could lead me. i thought to myself, boy, i don't know, what's ahead after judge melloy?

it gave me an anxiousfeeling, i was thinking is somebody else gonna seein me what judge melloy did? does an average iowa lawstudent have anything out there? and i'll tell you, my answerto that was an emphatic yes, but you might have some ofthose same questions today, especially as you say has myeducation gotten me ready? now, dr. martin lutherking, jr. spoke right here 56 years ago, and he offersus a good way to measure what an education should do for us.

let me read what he had to say. "education must enable oneto sift and weigh evidence, "to discern the true from the false, "the real from the unreal,the facts from fiction. "the function of education,therefore, is to teach one "to think intensively,and to think critically, "but, we must remember thatintelligence is not enough. "intelligence pluscharacter, that is the goal "of true education.

"the complete education gives one not only "the power of concentration,but worthy objectives "upon which to concentrate. "the broad education willtherefore, transmit to one "not only the accumulatedknowledge of the race, "but also the accumulatedexperience of social living." so how does your educationmeasure up, you have enough? are you ready to getout there and go for it? my experience tells methe answer is yes and no.

yes because, as you heard the dean recite, this is a fabulous lawschool, it really is, stellar history, greatfaculty, wonderful tradition. but no is part of my answerbecause no formal education can really prepare you totackle the unique realities of the law practice. so, it's like this, we're talkingabout the open road ahead, you're ready to get on thatopen road and you're ready to just start plodding downit, but to master it,

you're gonna need tobe a lifelong learner. be awake to thoseeducational opportunities that are out there, they'regonna be there all the time and you're gonna learn so muchif you pay attention to 'em. that's where the opportunitywill lie to really move forward and connect your life upto where you want it to be. now, the content andquality of that education, it's not gonna be up to thefaculty, it's not gonna be up to any curriculum,it's gonna be up to you,

you're gonna decide whatyou decide is worthy of your time and attention. but i'm gonna offer youjust a few ways you might wanna think about thateducation as you move forward. i'm gonna give you six things that i think are kind of valuable pieces to think about as you piece that puzzle together. i think those things willhelp lead to the great opportunities that i'vehad if you take 'em

and you run with 'em a little bit. the first one i'm gonnatell you is be a thief. yeah, you heard me right, be a thief. be a thief of the very best things you see in other lawyers, in otherwriting, when you're watching and learning and yousay that's really good, think about taking it and make it yours. now, i steal the thief idea from the renowned poet marvinbell who's a long-time member

of the iowa writer'sworkshop faculty here. he said in response to aquestion about what do you tell the beginning writers,these wonderful people you produce in your program, you know, find your own voice orsomething like that? and he says no, i tell'em read like a thief. what you understand isoriginality is really just a mixture of influenceson you, so be original, read like a thief, thejudges that i worked for,

i noted how great they were, they really, in retrospect, taught me that. watch this good lawyer,watch what they do, watch how the best do it, makeit your own if it fits you. but certainly thinkabout it and think about how you'd approach a similar situation. and the second piece of advice is don't travel that open road alone, surround yourself with great people.

just look at the peoplethat have surrounded my life that i've alreadymentioned: professor bauer, judge melloy, mark surrey, andin the audience today with me supporting me yet again ismy beloved judge david hansen who was my second boss. a dear man, a giant in law,and a guy who taught me a whole heck-of-a-lot. now, my time with them was wonderful. some people would say it'sjust a huge opportunity for me

or how do they say it today,huge opportunity for me. today, i look back and isay yeah, that was some opportunity that i did notrealize how great it was, but it really changed theentire arc of my career and my life, so i'm indebted to them and i appreciate judgehansen and professor bauer being here and supporting me today as they've done throughout my career. but, it makes a difference with mentors

and role models likethat, how do you fail? it's just one of theingredients you gotta have. the other part of this is peer colleagues. i was blessed with greatpeer colleagues, law clerks, people in law firms and stuffthroughout my experience that really surrounded meand carried me forward. i'm gonna use one nightof my life as an example. shortly after i graduated, iwent out in des moines, iowa with a group and that group was:

jane, steve, matt, emily, jo, and jj. you think well, good for you. the point is, now you know thosepeople as judge jane kelly, judge steve colloton, bothof the eighth circuit, judge matt johnson of theminnesota court of appeals who's been to the iowa law school, jo lilledahl, who's thepermanent clerk for judge kelly, your own beloved professor emily hughes,

who i'm a huge fan of, by the way, and judge john jarvey,that's the jj in there, united states district judge john jarvey, some people mention him as one of the best trial judges in the nation. i'm not saying that as a bragging point, i'm just saying that's who ihappen to be surrounded by, that's the kind of peoplethat were trying to help me float my boat a little bit.

now, i do have a storyto share from that night, it's actually a pretty good story. it's about one of my super-smartcolleagues, matt johnson. matt and i went down to des moines, the eighth circuitconference was down there. one morning we discovered, wait a minute, we forgot to book a hotelroom, so we looked around and we thought, ou-oh, i don't think there's anything available,big conference here,

what are we gonna do? joanne lilledahl, who we refer to as jo, offered us the pull-outcouch for the two of us to sleep on in the front roomof her embassy suites suite. all very harmless stuff, right,jo's married, i'm married, matt's a very moral guy,it's all very innocent. next morning comes, jogets up for an early breakfast meeting, i follow herout not too long after that, matt's kinda getting up alittle late and the phone rings

so he thinks well, what doyou do, you answer the phone. so he picks it up, hello? and on the other end isjo's law school friend and she's sort of puzzled,she's like is this jo lilledahl's room, and he says, uh, yes and then there's a little bitof silence on the other end of the phone and she says oh,is this mike, jo's husband? he says, uh, no (audience laughter) and then she was like

uh, okay, thanks and hangs up the phone. we didn't all have cellphones in that day, but she got a message to jo'soffice and everywhere else call me asap, we need to talk. so, no, there is apractice pointer in here and we'll cover that real quick. a lot of times you tell yourclients, give yes or no answers if that's the answer, yes and no. you may want to qualifythat with sometimes

you might want to add justa little extra to kind of fill out the scenario a little bit, that might help everybodyunderstand it a little better. now, i pick on matt andhave fun with him tonight. just a story to tell you, hewas young, we were all young, we had fun, we had a good time, he's one of the smartest guys out there and remains one of mygreat confidantes today just like the rest of these folks do.

they're confidantes, they're cheerleaders, they're sounding boards,they're people that i can go to for support when i need tothink through my career, when i need to think throughthe challenges i have, they've always been there,it's a wonderful thing and comparing notes withthem, you learn an awful lot. so, great people aregonna cross your path, make 'em your own as best as you can. and you know what, it'snot just for the stories,

it's for a lot more thanthat, but you're gonna get some good stories. before i leave this, i do want to thank judge kelly for being here to support me, she's here with her husband,tom lidd, and tom, by the way, has written a book abouta former iowa law student, a guy named nile kinnick, by the way. some of you may have heard of him. it's a great book and i'dencourage you to look into it.

i don't know, tom, do yougot some in your trunk out there today, parked out there? you might pick one up or youpick it up at prairie lights. but tom has been a part ofmy support network as well and been a friend to meand it just tells you you just kinda keep addingpeople in layers to it, you're gonna have good people around you to help direct you the right direction. and i want you to pursuethose great people,

but also pursue great work. most of you have probablygot something in mind that you're startingwith, but the law is vast and that's my next pointhere, the law is vast and there is so muchopportunity to find something that might fit you. don't just settle forsomething you don't like. if you get in and say youknow what, my interests that i really want to focus on areover here, move towards them,

they might be right under your nose, they might be a couple stepsaway, they might be a transfer within your law firm, theymay be within the law, they might be outside the law. we have a number of friendswho have gone on to be ceos of companies, they've gone on to be investment bankers, venturecapitalists, you name it, teachers, lobbyists, consultants,and they're very happy in that practice.

discern where you wanna be,think about what's a fit for you and make yourself, promise yourself that you go for that work, and you go for something that you love. now, the author david brookshas recently written a book called the road tocharacter, maybe some of you have seen it, he says alsobe prepared to be summoned and what he means by thatis there might be a big societal issue out there ora big unmet need that you see

and you say wow, that's calling my name. go for it, you might need tocreate your own opportunity. i had to do that, i had to create one of my own opportunities. i've mentioned mediation alittle bit and this is how it kind of went down. i was a trial lawyer,there's another trial lawyer that's a friend of mine,a mediator in this crowd, steve powell, and we both havethought a little bit about

doing something beyond just trial work. we've both done somemediations and i really wanted to put myself into the mediation world a little bit more to do that. i got a quote from abrahamlincoln that sort of inspired me towards mediation. we all know lincoln was a triallawyer and a very good one. lincoln once said, "discourage litigation, "persuade your neighbors tocompromise whenever you can.

"point out to them that the nominal winner "is often a real loser in fees,expenses, and waste of time. "as a peacemaker, the lawyerhas a superior opportunity "of being a good person. "there will still be work enough for all." this inspired me to tryto have those two careers, trial lawyer, mediator,and put 'em together. so, when i told my lawpartners about my inspriation and then asked them topay for the training,

to get me trained as a mediator, their response was whatthe typical supportive law partners give you. partner number one, whothe heck would hire you as a mediator? partner two, no seriously, yougotta answer that question, who the heck would hire you as a mediator? then he explained, you need to know that your audience, the peoplethat have the cases,

they're gonna be experiencedlawyers, they've tried a lot of cases, they'vesettled a lot of cases, you've got to be ableto give that commercial to make that practice happen. so, i was slightly discouragedbut then they went on and surprised me and saidlook, go ahead and do it, we'll pay for it, you go out and make whatever you can out of it. i did, it became a verywonderful part of my career,

it was successful, and itwas something that just really nourished me as aperson, as a young lawyer. now, my partners, when theysaw that i was successful, they didn't immediately come in and say wow, you surprised me, theyjust smiled, nodded their head, because success to themmeant the mediation bills were going out and thechecks were coming in to pay the mediation bills, so that was success. now, here's the lesson in that.

roy and peter are gonnalike this 'cause i do this all the time in chambers, i always teach by reference to the movies. so, the movies here are as follows. i thought i was in the blues brothers, i'm on a mission from god, i'm inspired. my partners reminded me no, no, no, no, this is a law firm, you'rein jerry mcguire, buddy, show me the money.

but it was a good lesson,it was a really good lesson, it said, pursue what youwant, but be prepared to marry those aspirations and visions to the reality of the practice. so, as you go out there andthink about your career, go for what you want,dismantle some of the barriers that you've put in yourmind about it if you have, and pursue the work you love'cause it will nourish you and be awake to theopportunities that are gonna be

sitting there in front of you. now, the next piece, this is number four, is create your own brand,create your own brand. that's a hard thing fora young lawyer to do. sometimes you think youhave to be a certain way. i would say stir togetherall those elements that we're talking about, what you've seen from watching other lawyers, what you've picked up from your mentors,

what you've gotten fromconversations with your colleagues, what you've watchedand seen as you discern what kind of work you want,stir that all together and then mix yourself into it. mix yourself in there andyour brand's gonna emerge, that's who you're gonna be andyou gotta know who that is, know its limits, know itsstrengths, embrace it, and know that people aregonna be attracted to it. they're gonna see authenticity,

they're gonna see a confident lawyer, and they're really gonnalike what they see. now, as i was workingthrough this with one of my law clerks, he said tome hmm, you know judge, it's a little puzzling, howam i gonna stir your brand which is mr. outgoing andextrovert in with my brand which is pretty reserved andquiet and then on the other end still have something i can use? and so, as we were working through that,

judge kelly, who's on ourfloor, came down the hall and she dropped in forsome reason or another, we chatted with her fora couple of minutes, and off she went and then i thought, okay, well what if we stirred in alittle bit more judge kelly and a little less of me? and he thought about itfor a minute, by the way, the right answer to that is well judge, i couldn't stir you out of myequation, i mean, you know,

how could i possibly do that? my law clerk looks at meand he goes judge kelly, right on, yeah, stir in some judge kelly, but that was the right answer for him. he found somebody thatmatched up his role model for him that would work for him and i think it reallymade him feel comfortable. so do that. as you create your ownbrand, i'd encourage you

to stir in the concept of civility. you probably hear about thata lot and it sounds like a platitude of some sort,let me bring it down to what i think is reality. this legal system you're goinginto, it's not a system of documents, papers, writing, and argument. it's a system of people. you've got lawyercolleagues, lawyer friends, staff members in your lawfirm, you've got clients,

jurors, and judges, yes,judges are people too. we are all constantly battling the idea of how do you participatein an adversary system and still keep somenotion of civility between the two of you, not justbetween the two of you, between you and whoeveryou're dealing with. it matters to me as a judge,it matters to other judges, i'll tell you that right now,it matters to other lawyers, when you're wonderingwhere you're gonna get

your referrals from, otherlawyers, they're gonna decide based on who they like, whothey wanna hire as a mediator, that's gonna be madebased on decisions about who they've dealt with anddealt with effectively. you're gonna have a situation,if you ever wanna be a judge, frankly, you're gonna need thesupport of your colleagues, and one of the things they'regonna say is who do i want to appear before, who'sa civil person that will treat me right, that's abig part of the equation.

i didn't get asked what my grades were, i got supported becausepeople said i like the way you practice, i could seepracticing before you. think about that a littlebit, it's an important part of the practice. now, i've got a little storyon that one, too, from my old law partner who said youknow, as a young lawyer, i got a call from anolder lawyer saying to me hey, i need an extension of this deadline,

i'm kinda caught in a badspot, so the young lawyer, my partner, said ah, wait,this is an advantage for me, so he said nope, sorry,can't give you an extension, you know, too bad, rules are rules. so, the old lawyer says hmm, okay son, but just remember, the sun don't shine on the samehound dog's rear every day. and my partner was sort of taken aback, the older lawyer hungup and then he thought

for a few minutes andthe light bulb went on. picked up the phone, calledthe guy right back and say you can have your extension of time. he realized then, he's probablygonna see that guy again. he might need a similar favor from him. he may need his supportfrom him in the future. it's the right thing to doand it started help shaping his path forward. you don't have to bedifficult to be successful.

now, as we move on to thelast couple words of advice, the first one is be ready for tough times. i mean, that's not somethingthat we want to say on a happy occasion necessarily, butit's reality, it is reality. tough times are gonna be there,think about surviving them, and think about thriving after them, just be prepared for that. a lawyer in our firm oncejoked boy, the managing partner seems to think that if wereally try hard enough,

we all can be perfect. don't fall into that trap,it's not gonna happen. the reality is, life happensand life can be tough at times. we need to be preparedto meet that challenge and when we meet thatchallenge, we're prepared to thrive in those circumstances,so i'd encourage you to think about that, it'sthe norm, not the exception. be prepared to deal with it and move forward strongly through it.

i'm gonna share withyou something personal about one of my challengesto use as an example. i suffer from depression. on one occasion, mydepression really took me down into a dark, dark place, frankly. it surprised me, it surprisedeverybody around me, but i was blessed becausei surrounded myself with great people. my wife, my friends, my extended family,

and my work colleagues,my work colleagues, really they didn't know me as much, were totally there for me,everybody spoke with one voice and said listen, get help, we are totally there foryou and we're gonna continue to love you no matter what, get help. i got help, i got treatment,it was a wonderful decision for me. i have a great life, not justa good life, a great life,

but mental health isstill part of my equation and it's always gonnabe part of my equation. i talk about walt whitman alittle bit, he talks about that very idea on that open road,traveling the open road. whitman says, "still, i carrymy delicious old burdens "with me, i carry them, men and women, "i carry them with me wherever i go. "i swear it is impossiblefor me to get rid of them. "i am filled with them, andi will fill them in return."

delicious burdens mightslightly overstate it for the way i feel about it,but the point's right on. i now look at my depressionand then a later bout with prostate cancer ashuge blessings in my life, huge blessings. i think that sounds a littlefunny, but these experiences have given me an unbelievableopportunity to talk to people who are struggling,people who are terrified, people who are feelingdesperate, and even, frankly,

people who are thinkingof doing some bad things. that's an enormous privilegeand i've had something to say to those people, it's a hugereward for me personally. so, i'd just encourage you tothink about where that fits in for you and i wannaleave you with a thought. if you ever find yourselfat the end of your rope, there's nowhere to turn, call me 'cause i love getting those calls. you can get my numberany way and i'll take it,

but call me, i'll get you somehelp, and that's a promise. now, the last thing i wanna tell you today is something you probablyknow in your heart already, kinda gets us back to why wewent into law to begin with. seek out some cases ofreal justice-in-action, i mean real, palpable, clear-cut justice. i've seen those as alawyer, they're wonderful, but i'm not gonna tell youabout my wonderful cases, i'm gonna tell you aboutmy experience as someone

who was a friend of someoneterribly in need of justice. i had a friend of 30 years,disabled in a wheelchair, she frankly, had a very tough life, it was physically difficult,she was a lonely person. her crisis and need forjustice came when she lost the one thing that she really had, the one thing she was proudof, the one thing she cherished and that was her independence. she had worked so hard to live on her own

and then she ended upbeing, through a set of bad circumstances, ended upbeing involuntarily committed and she remained underthat commitment order against her will indefinitely. and i frankly, as afriend, lawyer, and judge, i really didn't know where to turn, this was outside of myexperience, so i turned to professor john allenhere at the law school and we've recognized today.

professor allen stepped in and helped me, he said yeah, this woman'ssuffered an injustice, so he and his students, overthe next several semesters, and this was a long time, it was probably, i don't know how manystudents, four students, a couple years of fighting this battle. they fought the battle,they fought it hard, but they were also helpingout a really distraught person and being there for her.

they were counseling herand bringing her along as the true counselor-at-lawthat we sometimes talk about and i know we talk aboutit at the iowa law school. you know, that was really,really important to her, but for me, what was inspiringwas professor allen's thirst for justice, basically,he wasn't gonna give up, wasn't gonna give up until we got the commitment order lifted and it was lifted. it was enormous personal victory for her

and i can't tell youhow vindicated she felt. now, this is not ahappily-ever-after story, this is a story where shegot her independence back and she was beset by aseries of very serious physical problems, she neverlived on her own again. three weeks ago today, she died, but as we will think aboutthis in going forward, the reason i'm tellingthis story is as follows. she was a person who hardlywas recognized even as a person

by many people in our society. john allen and his team,they not only recognized her, they took her under theirwing and served her, they said we're your servants. it was really a beautiful thing to watch, it was really a beautiful thing to see. the most important partof that was not the result they got for her, that wasgreat, but what they really did for her is this, they said,

you're a person thatmatters before the law, you're a person thatmatters as a human being. it was a wonderful thing. you're gonna have someamazing opportunities as lawyers out there to dowonderful things like this, take 'em, it might be tough,they don't pay usually, but the personal reward andthe lessons you're gonna learn are beyond what you can imagine. so, let's wrap this uptoday with the words of

the poet again, waltwhitman, on the open road. he provides me with what'sreally my benediction for you today as he says, "from this hour i ordain myself "loos’d of limits and imaginary lines, "going where i list, my ownmaster total and absolute, "listening to others,considering well what they say, "pausing, searching,receiving, contemplating, "gently, but with undeniable will,

"divesting myself of theholds that would hold me." so, my wish for you today isa journey on that open road ahead that's filled with so much promise, like the one whitman describes. in particular, i hope youfind and seize a career loos'd of limits and imaginary lines, a career of your ownfashioning, a career for you, for the world you live in,and rewarding for both. thank you very much for havingme here and congratulations.

- thank you judge collins. we come now to the most important part of today's program, the conferring of degrees. president harreld, onbehalf of the faculty of the college of law, i am proudto present these candidates who have completed all the requirements for the degrees of juris doctor and masters of law as designated.

members of the class of 2016, please rise and remain standing. - by the authority vested inme by the board of regents, state of iowa, i herebyconfer on each of you the degree of juris doctorate of masters or masters of law asqualified and designated. you may be seated, congratulations. it's wonderful to be here with you to celebrate such a momentousoccasion in your lives.

i had the pleasure ofcoming out of a meeting in another part of campustoday and look over there and see the dean and all ofyou getting your photos taken in front of the old cap,you asked me to join you. it's a wonderful time. we often talk about itas an ending, and it is, i'm sure you all feelso glad to have the last three years behind you, butalso is a new beginning, a new beginning of your lives and careers.

and the one thing i wantto make sure you all know, we want you to come back and see us and bring your joyoussuccesses back to us, you're among family here. i also want to pause for amoment and thank our dean. i know this is a surprise to you too, and the faculty as well. three years ago, the world for law schools and law students

was a tough one and there were so many people that were giving advice to just take anybody into law school and increase the numbers,or the other extreme, downsize the faculty, andyou did the right thing, you did the right thing bykeeping the high quality, high standards, as well asthe high-quality faculty here and this day is, i think,a momentous tribute

to your leadership andto the entire faculty. thank you for doing all that. so, i just have a few finalcomments and i'm gonna ask our graduates to standup once again in a moment and then you'll stand uponce again and come on stage. i am a husband of an attorney, we have four children, they've all graduated andgone to graduate school, and every time i've goneto ceremonies like this,

i've thought through the importance of the other people in theaudience, we've mentioned them, but these people at yourback have been at your back for a long time and i thinkjust before we do anything else, i think it would be appropriatefor all of us to stand up and just give everyone outhere, the mentors, the family, the faculty, a huge standingovation, so if you don't mind, please. thank you, thank you.

i'm giving you someexercise here this morning. i don't think i need toemphasize the important role that lawyers have in our society. we live in a complex world today and i believe that lawyersare among the most crucial and problem solvers in that world. they protect our economic system, ensure the peaceful resolutionof private disputes, and safeguard the orderlytransfer of public power.

last month, we celebrated the retirement of a wonderful member of the faculty and ultimately the dean, and then ultimately thepresident of our university, sandy boyd. and sandy probably knowsbetter than at least i do the special place andobligation that attorneys have in our society, and in an address in 1982 entitled our values,sandy said as follows.

"law is the means by whichwe and our fellow citizens "formally stipulate certain conditions "of our individual and joint lives. "two essential factorsin our democracy are, "one, every individual isentitled to equal protection "of the law, and two,every individual is under "equal obligation to uphold the law. "given these conditions,law is an effective means "of advancing social justice."

i think he is so right. for over a century-and-a-half,the iowa law school, the oldest, mind you, westof the mississippi river, has blazed a path ofprogressive innovation and excellence. graduates, you have beencentral to the excellence of this university while you've been here, and your futureaccomplishments will always be part of this proud legacy.

once again, congratulations, good luck, best wishes, and all thewonderful things you're gonna accomplish moving forward. we're very proud of you,go hawks, thank you. - okay, thank you president harreld. that was a little bit of a surprise to me, i thought i had seen his speech. i am now going to ask thelaw graduates to come forward to be introduced byprofessor john-mark stensvaag

and to receive their doctoral hoods from professors emily hughes and todd pettys. (classical chamber music) - jared stephen adam. ned adams. mohammed sarhan alzahrani. megha amarnath. daniel emmert andersen. kwesi dabo atta-krah.

trista marie beise. dillon johnathan besser. patrick bigsby. matthew alan blumenreich. michael brey. quynh nguyet bui. lucas james carney. peter joseph chalik. eric alan checketts.

paul kim choi. kyle custer. brittany marie davila. patrick dittmer. keisha douglas. persephone eglaine. becky elliott. jillianne evans. joshua david feil.

victoria ann felt. kyle peter ferden. eric nicholas fischer. robert e. fitzgerald. hannah rose fordyce. adam russell foresman. alexandra claire galbraith. jeremiah kevin geffe. vincent steven geis.

thomas john golson. shyam goswami. daniel gough. colin patrick grace. charles william gustafson, ii. james frederick hansen. matthew burke hardin. anne m. harrison. jack hathaway.

stowe heiderscheit. kalissa ann holdcraft. eugene daniel hummel. elliott jensen. mitchell kang. alison florence kanne. duckchul kim. seong hyeon kim. y.t. kim.

jacob vinton kline. jared knight. adrian krzysztof kowalski. stephanie lynne kraft sheley. roy ryan leaf. alex jacob levin. li erfei. li yang. alexander morris lodge.

danitza valerie loya. robert marchant. john mccarthy. molly mcdonnell. jessica leigh mcnamara. daniel j. olinghouse. emily michele papp. thomas m. patton. hannah aliza posen.

crystal renee pound. sean joseph powell. sigrid kaur ranu. malvika rawal. jeffrey paul richter. john alan richter. ryan m. ricke. sarah ann sargent. allison anne schmidt.

kathryn r. seaton. carolina servin. tyler j. smith. haoyuan song. alexis steele. christina l. updegraff. imelda carranza ureno. susanne wejp-olsen. john joseph whelan.

stephanie marie wiederin. shelby wood. xiao xiao. chenhao zhang. yi zhu. alp zora. mathilde botti. javkhlan yadamdorj. - alright, one more time,let's applaud this great class.

before we close, i am charged to add afew words of farewell to the newest alumni ofthe iowa college of law. the late president johnf. kennedy observed, "certain other societies mayrespect the rule of force. "we respect the rule of law." you have been prepared to beguardians of the rule of law and to fulfill the promiseinherent in the iowa state motto, "our liberties we prize, andour rights we will maintain."

as lawyers, you will becharged to protect and defend our liberties and rights,to uphold the constitution, and to pursue justice in all you do. a license to practice law is powerful. i charge you to use it wisely. without doubt, you will face adversity in your professional lives. no one has ever said thepractice of law is easy, but justice sandra dayo'connor would tell you,

"as lawyers, we are entrustedwith work worth doing." and she says that isthe path to happiness. as you leave the college oflaw to take up this path, i am obligated to remindyou that you were prepared for this noble calling, thepractice of a learned art in the public interestin a public law school. farmers in their fields, thecashier at your local hy-vee, the people of iowa,contributed to the cost of your legal education.

today, when the celebratingis over, i ask you to begin thinking seriously abouthow you will pay it forward. the need is great, the options are many, and i know you will choose well. on this joyous day, mywish for each of you is that you fulfill justice holmes' vision to live greatly in the law. on behalf of your teachers and the staff and the rising 3l students who long to sit

right where you are, rightnow, i offer our affection, our admiration, and our congratulations. the 2016 commencementexercise is now adjourned. after the recessional, pleasejoin us for a reception at the boyd law building.