Innovation and Tradition: Students Urged to Seek Out New Ideas and Hold Fast to Long-standing Values

On Aug. 19, students gathered in the auditorium for a convocation assembly to hear from several speakers about the values of lawyering and the critical importance of engaging with new ideas and different perspectives. In his address to the incoming 1L class, federal judge, former dean, and Sterling Professor Emeritus Guido Calabresi ’58 welcomed the students with affecting remarks about the Law School’s history, traditions, and values. Calabresi reminded the new students that the time to compete with others is over, and now is the time to compete with — and better — themselves. He also implored them to take chances during their time in law school. 

“If you take chances and fly and see something new, you’ll never be satisfied with walking again,” Calabresi said. “Take those chances and see where you go.” 

He also encouraged the students to get to know and learn from each other, to look for the good in others, and to empower themselves to go out and create positive change in the world. 

“The most important thing of all is to love each other,” Calabresi said. “See what is good in each other. It will make you better people, and it will also make you better lawyers.”

Interim Dean and Shibley Family Fund Professor of Law Yair Listokin ’05 welcomed the incoming students with remarks about the Law School as a place of tradition and innovation. While some elements — core classes, the building itself, and the strength of the faculty — remain constant, new students bring fresh ideas to the community, and pedagogy and the faculty itself continually evolve and push the Law School forward. 

“Our surest source of new ideas and innovation is all of you, the incoming students who enliven and shape this place every year,” he said. 

Listokin reflected on his own days as a student at the Law School — including in Guido Calabresi’s torts class — and his first year as a law professor. He encouraged them to delve into the Law School’s rich intellectual environment and to actively work to engage across divides to foster new ideas and ways of thinking through curiosity and mutual respect. 

“Lawyers zealously advocate for their clients, on both sides. It’s adversarial. It can be unpleasant. But there’s a widely shared belief among lawyers that this helps us get to the truth,” said Listokin.

At a time when the legal system has come under strain, Listokin also encouraged the incoming class to hold fast to the values of the profession.

“What we do has never been more important than it is right now,” he said. “Our legal system is a precious gift. If it is under threat, that is more reason, not less, to devote one’s life to it.”

The J.D. class of 2028 hails from seven countries, 36 states, and 85 undergraduate institutions. Their backgrounds and experiences are wide-ranging and include: a producer of a leading national podcast, a bioethicist, a nuclear submariner, and an oyster farmer. 

Prior to law school, they have earned 68 advanced degrees in subjects ranging from computer science to classical philology. And they have worked in careers across federal, state, and local government, at law firms and in schools, and have founded companies and nonprofits.

More than one in three are the first in their families to attend graduate or professional school and one in four are the first to graduate from college. Eight percent of the class were or are members of the armed forces — an increase from 1% of the class in 2017.

In addition to 204 incoming 1Ls, 11 transfer students join the class of 2027 and 29 incoming students comprise the new LL.M. class. Eleven new J.S.D. students who have completed the LL.M. program also continue their academic journey toward careers in legal teaching and scholarship.

Convocation concluded with a keynote address from Danielle Sassoon ’11, who spoke about her time at the Law School, professional ethics, and her career as federal prosecutor. In February, Sassoon resigned as acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, rather than dismiss a case against New York City mayor Eric Adams. 

“In some corners, what I did was described as brave, and in others as insubordinate. But it didn’t feel like either to me,” Sassoon said. “I simply honored my duties as a prosecutor, which include serving the public without regard for the political or personal implications.”

Sassoon urged the 1L class to embrace the Law School’s intellectual environment and “get comfortable with the mess of disagreement” with classmates who might see the world differently. 

“You will strengthen your argumentative muscles, and learn to think independently, only if you sharpen your ideas against others’ steel,” she said.

Sassoon closed by charging students to seek out nuance and complexity to become better lawyers, leaders, and advocates. 

“Then enter our noble profession and prove that what I did was not brave, but what, at the very least, any YLS graduate would do in my shoes,” she said.