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An Interview with Jayne Barnard
Jayne W. Barnard and Aidan Rossman
"But I think William & Mary Law School has got a huge number of very entrepreneurial students and faculty members who make things happen. And not because somebody told them it had to be done, but because they just decide that they'll do it." -- Jayne Barnard.
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This interview took place in the Reeder Media Center at William & Mary on April 27th, 2023, from 12:00 to 2:00 pm. It begins by discussing Barnard’s career prior to law school, and how there was a movement of women to law schools to find careers where they would be better recognized for their hard work. She discusses joining Jenner and Block, and what it meant for them to have women already working there. She discusses her return to government by working for the mayor of Chicago, Harold Washington, and how she “cleaned up” the law department. From there, she moves to how she came from Illinois to Virginia to join William & Mary faculty in 1985. Barnard then shares her many roles at the law school, from the classes she taught to being a faculty advisor for multiple journals. Through these roles, she highlights her commitment to supporting women, which is further revealed as she talks about her involvement in the ACLU, William & Mary’s Faculty Women’s Cause, and role as Coordinator of the 100th Anniversary of Women at William & Mary. She then discusses her work in corporations, business, and white-collar crime, coming to a head in her article about victim impact statements which helped in passing the Crime Victims’ Rights Act of 2004 and got her a seat in the courtroom during the Bernie Madoff case. The interview finishes with Barnard sharing a few different stories and comments about the general community and entrepreneurship of the students and faculty of William & Mary Law School.
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An Interview with Judith M. Conti
Judith M. Conti and Aidan Rossman
"...there are many lawyers who look at the law as the limits of what they can do. And instead, I feel like my education taught me to think beyond the limits of what the law is and more about what the law should be and how we can achieve that kind of change." -- Judy Conti.
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This interview took place in the Reeder Media Center at William & Mary on March 8th, 2023, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm. The interview began with Conti discussing her Catholic and liberal upbringing which developed a strong need to give back through public service. She decided that she wanted to go to William & Mary’s Law School because it was a school based on community, rather than competition. She then discussed some of the professors and classes that had the largest impact on Conti as a student. Conti then shares why “Big Law” was not for her and how she knew public service was for her. Conti then covers the revival of the Women’s Law Society as a 1L, co-founding the Journal of Women and the Law, and Professor Jayne Barnard’s advice and encouragement for women in the legal field. Finally, Conti shares about her work after law school, describing cases that inspired her passion for labor and employment law and the co-founding of the DC Employment Justice Center. Conti concludes with remarks about how she continues to carry with her the William & Mary tradition of the citizen lawyer and emphasizing community.
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An Interview with Alemante Gebre-Selassie
Alemante Gebre-Selassie and Gongyu (Jerry) Zhang
"So when I came here, I wrote back that experience of Law and Development as an important subject... We have to study the actual realities of a country, their culture, their geography, their history, their economic conditions, their social conditions before you propose some kind of recommendation to them." -- Alemante Gebre-Selassie
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The interview starts with Professor Gebre-Selassie’s background and family. He was educated first as a law student at University of Haile Selassie in the 1960s, followed by a J.D. in UW-Madison. He discusses life prior to teaching at W&M and about his home country.
Professor Gebre-Selassie emphasizes that the single most important value for the legal profession is dedication. He also stresses the importance of U.S legal scholars to respect regional differences and traditions of other countries before applying “universal” legal doctrines.
Professor Gebre-Selassie stresses several times the importance of a closely-knit community of faculty members, which he believes has been diminished, possibly as a result of the global pandemic, during his years as emeritus faculty.
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An Interview with Toni M. Massaro
Toni M. Massaro and Devan Orr
"Lucky, lucky, lucky." -- Toni M. Massaro
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Toni Massaro was interviewed in the production studio of the James E. Rogers College of Law, University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. It began at 1pm Arizona time and the interview went approximately one hour. During that time, Massaro covers her high school and college education and how she transitioned to law and why. She also discusses why she wanted to go to William & Mary, her relationships with her fellow students, relationships with faculty and academics, and her transition into practice. She also covers her teaching and deanship and how her time at William & Mary influenced that work.
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An Interview with Eileen A. Olds
Eileen A. Olds and Gongyu (Jerry) Zhang
"It's your job to speak up. And then it's also your job if you see things that don't... feel right, to address them in some way." -- Judge Eileen Olds
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Sharp, quick-witted, and carrying a solemn charm, Judge Olds shares a strong personal narrative portraying her life as one in which she incessantly pursues justice. Her interview begins with stories of a strong sense of right and wrong in her early years. She goes on to share her rather traumatic experience of being isolated by fellow classmates during law school. Nonetheless, she and her fellow African American students (there were only four in her class) supported one another, even advocating for increased diversity among students and faculty at the law school.
As the interview progresses, Judge Olds describes her highly successful career. She touches on rejoining the law school community after many years feeling unable to return. Judge Olds describes her “Tell it to the Judge” program, about how judges are trained, what they can do to be better. She discusses advice for her younger self, and for the law school now. She finishes the interview on a hopeful note, describing the law school today as a much better institution in terms of diversity and priorities.
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An Interview with Timothy J. Sullivan
Timothy J. Sullivan and Brendan Clark
"If you know from whence we came, let's just say from 1920, to where we are today, it's an extraordinary story." -- Tim Sullivan.
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The interview of Timothy J. Sullivan, Dean Emeritus of William & Mary Law School and President Emeritus of the College of William & Mary in Virginia, occurred on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, from approximately 2:00 P.M. to 3:00 P.M. in the Media Center of Swem Library. The interview concerned Timothy Sullivan’s tenure at the law school, beginning with his time as a member of the faculty in the early 1970s and continuing to the conclusion of his time as dean of from 1985 to 1992.