2024 GW Law Commencement: "Lessons from a TV Lawyer"

Faculty, staff, friends, and family, but most importantly our Class of 2024 GRADUATES, welcome to the roast of Tom Brady…I mean the Law School Commencement Ceremony. 

I want to first start by thanking God for literally carrying me to this moment. But I think He’s tired of me saying ‘Jesus Take the Wheel’ every time I walked into a law school final. 

I want to thank my amazing parents. If you truly know me, you know all I’ve ever wanted to do is make them proud. Thank you for sacrificing your time and even some of your dreams so I could live mine. 

Special thanks to my siblings; to my sweetheart Simone; to mentors and friends in Kirk, Michael, Ciara Melvin, and James to name a few; a special thanks to all those of the Student Bar Association who volunteered countless hours of their time, with a special shoutout to my chief of staff Amber Grant and to the Law Review editor-in-chief and former SBA VP Kendall Archer who is one of the main reasons I’m standing here today. I want to also thank our amazing supporters in people like Ms. Bobby Wallis, Ms. Carolyn Harris, Dean McCoy, Dean McCoy (it’s ok, it’s an inside joke), Megan Gabrielson, Victoria Karker, Dean Schooner, Dean Sim, Dean Belk, and so many others.

We’d have to rewind the clock all the way back to June 23, 2011, when the greatest show on TV first aired, and no I’m not talking about Love Island. USA Network’s drama ‘Suits’ took hold of audiences and Aaron Korsh’s crafty drama that tells the story of a prominent New York lawyer in Harvey Specter, is probably a good reason why some of us are here today. Unfortunately, we are all in for quite a shock when we realize you can’t just roll up to a judge’s house in the middle of the night and black mail them to do what you want. 

But funny enough, through all the high rolling drama, there’s a few lessons that these TV lawyers can teach us as we head into this next chapter.

The first lesson as Harvey put it, is that “You Always Have a Choice.”  

Simply put, you never have a reason to give up, and there is even less of a reason to make a bad decision. At some point, we all sat through our professional responsibility and ethics courses, and I know we all thought, we have to learn how not take our client’s money??? Seriously??? But the focus of the class was always on doing the right thing, even when alternate opportunities present themselves. 

The field we are about to enter rests a lot on personal integrity and making the right choice, even when people aren’t watching. What we witnessed over the past few years, was so many of you step up to this call. There were those who took up the personal responsibility in the wake of the COVID crisis to mask up and consider the health and safety of others before ourselves. There were those who looked out for others when wild circumstances fell like a cyberattack in the middle of finals one year where students jumped to action in sharing notes and documents with each other. There were those who spoke up for and on behalf of others when they felt left out or put down or unseen in the wake of tragedies that shocked not only this campus but the world, making law school seem a lot less important.

We will always have a choice to make, and I know we have been prepared to make the right ones. 

The second lesson brought to you by Harvey, is “Don’t play the odds, play the man.”

This concept goes far beyond finding ways to clean house at the poker table. The focus is on understanding people. Building relationships with people. Taking time to get to know the person sitting next to you and those who will one day sit across from you. 

I think back to our Fundamentals of Lawyering class where they taught us the tools to networking, relationship building, and even how to relate and take cues from a client. Those skills will become increasingly valuable as we work to navigate our legal careers. 

We must take it upon ourselves to go beyond the surface when we meet others, and learn who they are, what they are about, what they like, and where they want to be. Make friends for the sake of making friends without expecting anything in return, because you will never know how some day those relationships may serve as the breakthrough or critical support you need. So, take no relationships and opportunities for granted, or pretend it’s 1L orientation all over again, and just say hi. 

And third, but what I think is most important lesson, Harvey said “Anyone can do my job, but no one can be me.” 

Let’s be real. In a few years there will be robotic AI lawyers and we will likely be back in school learning how to code them. And I can assure you, GW will find a way to charge us even more tuition.

But in all seriousness, Harvey was focusing on what we ought to know is the greatest truth. That it is our unique personalities and experiences that make us who we are, not any amount of learning, or even any future job we might have. It should serve as a reminder to always bring your full self to work each day and let who you are shine through the impact you will have in your career. You are all incredibly bright, smart, and talented people whose stories have molded you for this moment and carried you to this day. A few of those stories I would like to share with you today. 

Stories like those of Wan Gikiri [Gee-kir-ee]. Born to her mom Gladys right here in Washington, DC and raised in Atlanta, Wan’s journey began with struggles in school where reading and writing weren’t her strong suit and it required extra courses to help her learn. But that never stopped her from pushing herself to take challenging courses throughout high school and in her time at the University of South Carolina where she later graduated summa cum laude. And as she graduates today having had a note published in the American Intellectual Property Law Association Quarterly Journal and completing prestigious internships, once thinking that this day might not be possible for her, she stands to join the two percent of attorneys in the US that are black women. I know she will kick open doors and create opportunities for more to follow in her footsteps. Wan you have made us all proud and I know Gladys is too. 

Other stories like that of Minji Doh [Meen-jee Doe]. Minji was born in Korea to her amazing parents who later moved to Virginia at the age of 11. She spoke very little English growing up and subsequently had to repeat the fourth grade. Where she lived, she often had to ask herself where did she fit in? But nevertheless, she persisted, and went on to graduate from Georgetown University with honors where she worked at the ABA Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence. But even with all her accolades and community work, Minji said a trying time in her life was during the height of COVID where she was physically afraid of going outside of her one-bedroom apartment in DC because she was worried that she would become another headline of senseless Asian hate crimes that were flooding our communities. Her dad used to tell her that, as a minority, nothing could protect her more than knowing the laws of the land in which she lives, especially when he might not be around to protect her. But her parents are with her today, and as she graduates today having served as an incredible campus leader, completed internships with those like the Honorable Michelle Childs, and worked in the Family Justice Legal Clinic, Minji will use her newfound degree to protect those who do not have the privilege of protection. Congratulations Minji.

There are also stories like those of Katie Cantone-Hardy [Can-TONE-Hardy]. Born to Mary and Tom and raised in Richmond, Katie graduated from the University of Virginia and worked as a bilingual home visitor and a specialist on an intimate partner violence hotline. Her work inspired her pursuit of a legal career because she witnessed the unequal access to justice as one of the most consistent struggles faced by those with whom she worked. As someone who has dealt with anxiety, depression, and having lost friends and family to suicide, Katie made it a part of her journey to open up about what she was dealing with. So much so that she recalls a moment all the way back to the day before law school, where one small message in the GroupMe about her struggling with a case of imposter syndrome, sparked a flood of encouraging messages from which many of her friendships at GW Law blossomed. As Katie leaves this place having served as a Dean’s Fellow, in the Family Justice Litigation Clinic, and with her note being prepared to be published in the George Washington Law Review this summer, she will use her degree to bridge barriers and advocate for justice for all, while also taking the time to normalize the dialogue around mental illness in the legal profession. Katie, continue to be great. 

These stories are all too familiar because I too struggled. It seems like just yesterday when my parents drove me to Washington, DC just two days after my graduation at the University of Georgia to pursue my dreams working in the halls of the Nation’s Capital. I was a bright-eyed young man hoping I could one day affect change and simply make someone else’s life better. But back then, I knew my parents had sacrificed so much for me over the years that I worked to be on my own. And while I told them I would be renting an apartment in a house; unbeknownst to them to this day, I really was just staying with a friend. I couch surfed from week-to-week as I worked to save money from multiple jobs to be able to afford a place in this city of opportunities. Some nights in between couches, I found myself walking the streets of DC all night with my suitcase tucked away at the office, walking until the sun came up because I had nowhere else to go. The thing that kept my dream alive was that I knew my circumstances were temporary. I knew that God was always on time, even when I found myself always checking my watch. And when I was later able to get the money to find a place, I just kept on working, and I just kept on believing, later rising to become a Senior Policy Advisor in the United States Congress, obtaining a master’s degree, and now closing a chapter on my legal education with a Juris Doctorate from one of the BEST law schools in the country. 

My friends, the stories are endless. The struggles are shared. But the successes are ALREADY WRITTEN. Because here’s the simple truth: if we persevere, we will overcome; if we give, we shall receive; if we love boldly, we will live abundantly; and if we fight for what’s right, we will establish justice. 

I’ll leave you with this, as we say goodbye to a place that has helped mold us into the incredible lawyers we will all become. It’s bittersweet. The all-nighters, the endless free food, the friends, professors, amazing staff, and even the odd high schoolers who always take our seats on the patio, I know we will all miss. 

But as we leave here, we can remember how Harvey Specter delivered one of his most iconic lines when he said, “life’s like this, but I like this.” [Hand Motion] Or translated to GW speak, he was saying Raise High. I am confident that the class of 2024 will be leaders that will undoubtedly grow stronger, achieve greater, and better yet go HIGHER than ever before.

Thank you, congratulations, and let’s go crush the bar exam!