Page 4 - Briefcase Volume 37 Number 1

BRIEFLY

NOTED U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR

UNDERSCORES NEED FOR EXPANDED ETHICS

INSTRUCTION DURING VISIT TO UH LAW CENTER

During her visit, Associate Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor joined University of Houston Law Center Professor Michael A. Olivas
for a fireside chat in Krost Hall.

Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United specializing in a particular area of law or not,” she said. “Students should
States, urged law schools to weave ethical training into early course consider taking taxation because every client you have will be affected
curriculum and encouraged students to participate in pro-bono work by taxes one way or another.
during a discussion held at the University of Houston Law Center in “Take classes like estates because everyone has family and friends die.
January. You should be able to talk intelligently to your parents and colleagues
Sotomayor made her comments during a fireside chat in Krost Hall about making sure that they protect their families when they die.”
with Professor Michael A. Olivas, the William B. Bates Distinguished She emphasized the importance of in-court neutrality on the part of
Chair of Law and director of the Institute for Higher Education Law judges, and said members of the bench must assess and overcome their
& Governance. The Justice also participated in a question and answer own emotions so they can remain impartial.
session with students at the event.
“What we are not doing is training young lawyers to understand their “We do not put on our robe and lose emotion,” she said. “It is impossible.
You are a person. If you hear a sad story or read a sad story, you cry. If
ethical, moral obligation,” Sotomayor said. “It is not clear to me that we something tugs at other people’s hearts, it tugs at our hearts.
spend enough time teaching these students — lawyers of the future —
about the difference between rules that should be our floor of behavior, “You have to, as a judge, take stock within yourself of your own
and ethical behavior born from professional integrity. I think that some prejudices, your own biases, your own feelings. You have to consciously
of the derision that the public has about lawyers comes from that lack of correct for them. If you do not, you are unconsciously being unfair to
training.” the other side.”
Sotomayor also mentioned a lack of emphasis on core courses that teach While answering questions from Law Center students, Sotomayor
students how to be well-rounded lawyers. She stressed the importance walked through the aisles of the auditorium, pausing to shake hands with
of lawyers being familiar with varied areas of practice. members of the audience and pose for pictures. At one point, she chatted
“To me it doesn’t really matter if you have your heart set on briefly with a young girl, signed an autograph, posed for a picture, and
gave her a hug.

4 Briefcase 2018