Alum Nina Totenberg to LAW Grads: “Beware the Golden Handcuffs”

NPR legal correspondent says blind old Lady Justice is waiting for them.

Award-winning National Public Radio legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg counseled the 2018 School of Law graduates Sunday to seek a variety of experiences as they embark on their legal careers, including public service.

Families, friends, and faculty gathered at the Track & Tennis Center to celebrate the 490 graduates receiving Juris Doctor and Master of Law degrees and to hear Totenberg (COM’65, Hon.’11) give the Convocation address.

“I know a skadillion lawyers. And the ones who are really happy are those with a diversified life,” Totenberg said. “They have worked in administrations, Democratic and Republican, and as political appointees. They have worked as prosecutors, as defense lawyers. They have worked on the Hill or headed up advocacy organizations. They teach. They have served on important committees for the local bar, or the American Bar Association. They have done pro bono work on everything from housing to the death penalty. They have been tapped by mayors and governors to help with various projects from local schools to revising tax codes. So I urge you to keep all that in mind as you begin your careers.”

Totenberg acknowledged that many among the new degree-holders face financial pressures, like repaying student loans, and many will want to pursue lucrative work at big law firms.

“There’s nothing wrong with making money,” she said. “There’s just one caveat: Beware the golden handcuffs. Don’t let yourself slip into such a high standard of living that you simply cannot afford to do anything other than make money. For that, my friends, is a sort of a professional death. And then suddenly you’re going to be 60 years old, wanting the opportunity to do something else, and you’ll only have a track record with billable hours.”