|
|
|
 |
|
|
| By SEAN NOBMANN, Duke |
“I don’t want to leave the railing.” I thought to myself. But the next session of the Malibu JRCLS conference was about to begin and we needed to take our seats. I looked at my program and saw that the Dean of Pepperdine, Judge Kenneth Starr, was the speaker. I hesitated for a moment on the cliff-top overlook location of the Pepperdine Law School. All around me were green mountains and the beautiful buildings and grounds of the campus--and in front of me was the Pacific Ocean.
After Dean Starr’s stirring words, I sat contentedly in the large classroom. Now, ironically, I wanted to remain inside a moment, absorbing what was said. I felt this way all weekend long, listening to presenters such as BYU’s Dean, Kevin Worthen, Pepperdine’s Professor, Douglas Kmiec, and Washington D.C. Federal Circuit Judge, Thomas Griffith, and many others.
During the conference, I had the opportunity of meeting the student chair of next year’s SCIB conference committee, Casey Blais. I noticed that Casey seemed pale at times. When we were at the Reagan Presidential Library, where Senator Gordon Smith’s words inspired us while Air Force One towered above us, I asked Casey if he would be able to find an airplane topiary in Arizona for next year’s conference. He laughed, but he still looked pale.
This year’s student conference chair, Liz Jackson from Pepperdine, and her right-hand man Adam Ravitch from USC, did an outstanding job. Opinions seemed unanimous that there was not a single miscue during the Malibu Conference. The retinue of attorney conference planners, headed up by Bryan Jackson, was equally proficient. They set the standard for all future JRCLS conferences.
Notwithstanding the stellar conference in Malibu, I have it on good authority that Casey is pale no more. Perhaps it’s because retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor will be next year’s keynote speaker. Or, perhaps it is merely due to the beautiful, sun-filled days on campus at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. In either case, both are good reasons for each of us, attorneys and students alike, to make the President’s Day weekend trek to Tempe in 2008. |
|
|