Welcome

Dear Washington and Lee Law Students:
 
Welcome to the start of a new academic year.  I am looking forward to getting to know you, as young colleagues in our profession, as fellow members of our community. 

This is a propitious time in the history of the legal profession, and in the history of legal education.  At the Washington and Lee Law School we are a diverse and complex community, reflecting the growing diversity and complexity of the nation and the world.  We have liberals and conservatives here, Democrats and Republicans, citizens of the United States and citizens of other nations, individuals with different religious convictions, ethnic and racial identities, and sexual orientations.  Yet we share a common humanity, a common commitment to human dignity and human rights, a common trust in the rule of law. 

Law School straddles the world of "law" and the world of "school."  You are all young lawyers-in-training.  You are also all students, partaking of the free-spirited "loophole in life" that marks the college and professional school years.  I hope this year will be a healthy and meaningful blend of those two worlds.  I hope that you enjoy the intellectual excitement and social fellowship of the university world.  I hope that you also partake of the focus and seriousness of purpose that ought to motivate you to be the best you can possibly be, out of respect and concern for the clients, judges, and fellow lawyers whom you will serve and work with in coming years.  Ideally, Law School is simultaneously fun, stimulating, and invigorating, on the one hand, and focused, rigorous, and meaningful on the other. 

Best wishes for the coming year.

Rod Smolla
Dean, Washington and Lee University School of Law