"I agree with the assertion by UDC's leadership that all publicly funded law schools should look to the Clarke School of Law for inspiration and consider a similar service requirement. That would be a profound and powerful change. And it would lead, no doubt, to a more just nation and world."

- Eric H. Holder
U.S. Attorney General &
18th Annual Rauh Lecturer

On June 17th, 2010, United States Attorney General Eric H. Holder delivered the 18th Annual Joseph L. Rauh Lecture to more than 500 Washingtonians including judges, prominent attorneys, civic leaders, law students, staff and alumni of the University and the UDC David A. Clarke School of Law. In his remarks, the Attorney General heralded the Clarke School of Law as a model for other law school nationwide and pledged to sign and deliver a petition to President Obama urging him to speak at the School of Law's next Honors Convocation. Read more...

Joe Rauh may not have invented public interest law, but he certainly perfected it. For more than half a century, Joe championed the under-dog, the disenfranchised, and all minorities. His widely-known battles for civil rights, civil liberties, and equal access to justice are the essence of public interest law.

Less well known was Joe's vision of a wholly new approach to legal education tied to the practice of public interest law. Joe believed law students should "learn by doing," not just by reading cases. To Joe, this meant not only expanded clinical education within conventional law schools, but much more.

Joe envisioned a law school that would function as a training ground for public interest lawyers: a school where law students could learn basic skills and represent the underrepresented at the same time, a school that made dedication to public service a criterion for admission, and commitment to public service a life-long responsibility. The University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law is Joe's dream come true. A founding member of the Law School's Board of Governors, Joe remained one of its staunchest supporters until his last hours with us.

2012	Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor (Read more)
2011	Harold Koh, Legal Adviser of the Department of State (Read more)
2010	Attorney General Eric Holder (Read Attorney General Eric Holder's speech on the UDC-DCSL model)
2009	Senator Patrick Leahy (Watch Senator Leahy's lecture on YouTube)
2008	Vernon Jordan
2007	Nina Totenberg interviewed by Wade Henderson
2006	Theodore M. Shaw
2005	Congressman Barney Frank
2004	Congressman John Lewis
2003	Marian Wright Edelman
2002	Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Ralph Neas and Wade Henderson on "Civil Rights in the 21st Century"
2001	Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Read Justice Ginsburg's speech, "In Pursuit of the Public Good: Lawyers who Care")
2000	Charles Ruff
1999	The Sleep Room (an award-winning film about Joe Rauh's last case)
1998	Jack Greenberg
1997	Elaine Jones
1996	Father Robert Drinan
1995	Rick Seymour
1994	Judith Lichtman & Roger Wilkins
1993	William Taylor