Making a difference as a lawyer means devoting time to public service. This is what makes the practice of law a profession, and not just a job.
Janet Napolitano
UC Hastings College of the Law Commencement 2014, 2014
इस उद्धरण के पीछे की कहानी
After telling the stories of Ambassador Chris Stevens, Willie Brown, Jackie Speier, and Clara Foltz — Hastings graduates who each demonstrated extraordinary commitment to public service — Napolitano distilled their example into this simple but powerful distinction between a profession and a job. She reminded graduates of what lawyers do at their best: keep courthouse doors open to those seeking fairness, champion crime victims while protecting defendants' rights, fight for civil and human rights, and hold everyone accountable — including the president. It was a call to view their legal education not as a credential for personal enrichment but as a tool for serving the public good, in the tradition of the Hastings alumni who came before them.