Law school hosts “The Legacy of Justice RBG” panel
Four of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s former law clerks met Feb. 27 to discuss her legacy and their memories shared with the Honorable former Supreme Court Justice. Photo by SIMRAH AHMAD, staff photographer
After accepting former President Bill Clinton’s nomination for the U.S. Supreme Court in 1993, Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dedicated 27 years of her life to the Court. In light of this and the Supreme Court’s Bar Memorial to be held March 17, Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law hosted a commemorative event on Feb. 27: “The Legacy of Justice RBG.”
At the panel event, President Daniele Struppa unveiled a statue of Ruth Bader Ginsburg to be put on Chapman’s campus as a part of the university’s collection of historical figures.
“I’m thrilled to see that Chapman is commemorating the legacy of Justice Ginsburg with the statue,” said Lindsey Hagan, a third-year law student at Chapman who attended the event. “As a woman entering the legal profession, the impact she has had on my career is unquantifiable.”
Matt Parlow, the university’s executive vice president and chief advancement officer, organized and moderated the panel of Ginsburg’s former law clerks. Parlow asked each panelist to consider what Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s legacy meant to them and what impacts the associate justice had on them professionally and personally.
One of the panelists of the event, University of California, Berkeley School of Law professor Amanda Tyler, co-authored “Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue” with Ginsburg in her time as her clerk. According to Tyler, an aspect of Ginsburg’s legacy was her “profoundly deep love of country” and pride in representing the Supreme Court as a descendant of American immigrants.
“Her work in the 1970s transformed the country and changed the course of lives,” Tyler said at the event. “She made it her life’s work to give equal opportunity to all, unencumbered by stereotypes. She was brilliant, meticulous and worked harder than all clerks combined. She raised the level for everyone around her.”
At the event, Tyler said that working alongside Ginsburg taught her the “importance of living a full life,” with Ginsburg often taking the clerks to the opera, celebrating their birthdays and learning the world of online shopping from Tyler.
In an interview with The Panther, Tyler emphasized Ginsburg’s commitment to the Court.
“It is important not to forget how tirelessly Justice Ginsburg worked for a constitutional order that enabled each individual to reach what she called their ‘full human potential,’” Tyler said. “She did this first as an advocate pressing the Court to recognize that the Equal Protection Clause in the Constitution should require skepticism, not just of racial discrimination, but also discrimination based on gender.”
Paul Watford, an event panelist and lawyer in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, also clerked for Ginsburg during her time on the Supreme Court.
“It was an incredible honor to know her,” Watford said at the event. “(She was) the smartest person I've ever worked with (and a) wonderful boss, caring and giving person.”
According to Watford, Ginsburg showed him how to approach discourse in court.
“She taught us a lesson to respect civil discourse and those who disagree,” Watford said. “She valued how discourse improved her own work, and was not offended by ‘sharp’ dissents; she used them to shape her opinions.”
Laura Brill, a guest lecturer of law and certified appellate specialist, also clerked for Ginsburg and co-authored many of her articles, including “Women in the Federal Judiciary.”
As another panelist at the Fowler-hosted event, Brill described Ginsburg as a “very careful and precise person” who was “people-centered” with a “clear idea of democracy.” Brill mentioned that when the Court declined to extend absentee ballots during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ginsburg heavily advocated for the health of people and the role of the Court for people.
“She had some sort of kindness to her writing,” Brill said at the panel.
According to the fourth panelist, John Owens — a lawyer in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and former clerk for Ginsburg — she taught him and his peers the importance of preparation for cases.
“(She taught us) you can’t just make it; you have to be the most prepared in the room,” Owens said at the event.
Deepa Badrinarayana, a Chapman law professor with a background in environmental law, also attended the event. Badrinarayana said each of the speakers was very impressive and that their impressions of Ginsburg and the myriad of ways in which they had interacted with her emphasized the importance of relationships.
“My personal favorite was perhaps the story of RBG’s joy in learning to shop on the internet (from Amanda Tyler) and about her multifaceted personality,” Badrinarayana told The Panther following the event. “It showed judges are very much human and active participants in the routine aspects of society.”
Badrinarayana was impressed by Ginsburg’s acceptance of opposing viewpoints in court.
“Even for those who may disagree with her opinions, as she did with that of some, her friendship with Justice Scalia is an example of the fine balance that can be achieved between professional and social roles that so many people juggle,” Badrinarayana said.
She also loved to hear the personal anecdotes the speakers had about their daily experiences working for Ginsburg.
“The event really felt like a celebration of her memory. It was so uplifting,” Hagen told The Panther following the event. “It’s remarkable that she could work as tirelessly as she did and still maintain hobbies outside of her career like opera and fitness.”
According to Parlow, the event was a great opportunity for law students and other members of Chapman’s community to learn more about Ginsburg.
“For our law students, I hope that they will find inspiration in her life and work in the law to take the education they receive at the Fowler School of Law and help make the world a better place as Justice Ginsburg did,” Parlow told The Panther.