Google exec tells law school grads to be innovative in legal profession

A 1996 T.C. Williams School of Law alumnus advised Saturday's 155 graduates to be innovative in the quickly changing legal profession.

The alumnus, Rick Klau, who is the business product manager for Blogger at Google Inc., told graduates that the Internet was changing the legal profession by giving people immediate access to information. Klau used the Internet to change the legal profession when he and a group of other law students started the "Richmond Journal of Law and Technology," the world's first student-edited law journal to publish exclusively online.

While at Richmond, he also received the T.C. Williams Law School Scholarship Award for the most significant contribution to legal scholarship from the law school's faculty.

Klau has never worked directly in the legal profession, and instead worked for a technology start-up, working on Howard Dean's presidential campaign and running the campaign blog for now-President Barack Obama while Obama ran for Senate in 2004.

Despite never working in a law office, Klau told the graduates that the courses he took and what he learned during law school informed all of the decisions he made at Google. He encouraged them to use their law degrees in whatever field they settled, and also told graduates that if they ever lost their passion for the law, they should stop practicing.

Klau addressed a crowd of law school faculty, graduates and their friends and families, some of whom carried balloons shaped like stars or graduation caps, waved signs and toted small children. Student speaker Jeffrey Hanna mentioned his wife and son, who were there to see him graduate, during his speech.

Hanna, who was awarded The American Bar Association/The Bureau of National Affairs Inc. Award for Excellence for superior academic performance in the field of labor and employment law, was elected by the graduates to speak on their behalf during the graduation ceremony. A former stand-up comedian who appeared on "The Late Late Show" with Craig Kilburn, Hanna asked fellow graduates to reflect on the definition of justice and to remember their role in and obligation to society.

Assistant Professor Jessica M. Erikson, who said she had taught most of the graduates' corporate law classes, also spoke at the ceremony.

She encouraged graduates to do good work, and to always consider their place in the law.

"We climb the ladder because we think that's what we're supposed to do," she said, but asked graduates to consider their passions to find their place. "You'll never know unless you keep looking."

Erikson emphasized that she and the rest of the law school's faculty were proud of the graduates, and said they should take the same pride in their accomplishments.

"I believe you'll make the law school proud," Erikson said. "You'll make your families proud, and, ultimately, I believe you'll make yourselves proud."

During the ceremony, Nate Denny, president of the Student Bar Association, presented law school Dean John G. Douglass with the class gift, emphasizing that more than 60 percent of graduates had participated, establishing a new record for participation.

W. Clark Williams Jr., associate dean of the law school, presented several awards and honors to the graduates.

Christina Davidson was awarded the American Bar Association/The Bureau of National Affairs Inc. Award for Excellence, given to a student who demonstrates superior academic performance and interest in intellectual property law.

Heather Walczak was given the Greater Richmond Intellectual Property Law Association Award, bestowed to a student who has contributed to intellectual property law through activities both in and outside the classroom and who shows promise as an intellectual property practitioner.

Along with Hanna, Michael Hipps also earned an award for excellence in the field of labor and employment law.

Other award winners included Matthew Peterson, who was awarded the American Bankruptcy Institute Medal of Excellence for excelling in bankruptcy studies; Jeannine Panzera, who received the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Student Trial Advocate Award; Scott H. Jones, who was given the International Academy of Trial Lawyers Student Advocacy Award; and Martin Jarrard, who received the Family Law Award. Sarah Minner was given the National Association of Women Lawyers Award. Miriam Sincell was given the Public Interest Law Association Pro Bono Award for a student who made an extraordinary commitment to public interest work.

Jonathan Moore and Molly Geissenhainer were each given The T.C. Williams Law School Scholarship Award, for the student who has made the most significant contribution to overall legal scholarship.

Mike Braggs was given the Orrell-Brown Award for Clinical Excellence in the Children's Law Center. That award is given to a student who is selected by the faculty for excelling in skills necessary for direct representation of clients.

Moore also won the Cudlipp Medal, for the student who had the highest cumulative grade point average at the end of the second year.

Chelsea Dunn was given the Nina R. Kestin Service Award, which is awarded to the student, as selected by the faculty, who has contributed most significantly to the school, the community and the legal profession.

Jonathan Goodrich won the Charles T. Norman Award, given to the student who is selected by the faculty as the best all-around graduate.

Contact staff writer Emily Baltz at emily.baltz@richmond.edu