Ethics and orientation session jump starts students’ first year

“You’re going to love it,” he said. “The true satisfaction that you are going to get is going to be not in the money you’ll make but in serving and helping people.”

Fair’s comments were made during the 2009 Fall Orientation and James O. Dukes Professionalism Program.

Dukes established the professionalism program, which is also held at Mississippi College, 10 years ago as a way to introduce new law students to the demands of law school and to emphasize crucial parts of the law profession. The orientation included breakout seminars with more than 30 state attorneys and judges who met with small groups of students to discuss questions about ethics, school and practicing law.

Keynote speaker William L. Waller Jr., chief justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court, used stories from the life of Founding Father John Adams to make three points to the new students.

First, he urged them to keep in mind that their legal careers started the first day of law school.

“People are watching you,” he said. “The person sitting to your left may be the person who refers a case to you or hosts your first fundraiser. You are not anonymous anymore.”

Good attorneys also learn to ask questions, to never go to court without all of the details and to seek the ethical and legal counsel of their colleagues, he said.

Lastly, relaying the story of Adams’ work as defense attorney for the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre, Waller told the students to be willing to take a stand for what is right.

“My admonition to you is this: Go into this ready to make hard decisions and ready to do the right thing,” he said.

—Jennifer Farish