A Tour of Talent: My Weekend Trip to Harvard University

We toured the Cambridge campus on Saturday.  I gave a short speech to a group of Harvard faculty and alumni at Memorial Church on Sunday morning. That evening the CBS Early Show taped Annie and me meeting Seth Waxman and Noah Levine of WilmerHale at a local Cambridge restaurant.  We had a quick dinner before shuffling back to Lowell House for a Q&A with Harvard undergrads. (Although once some of the law school students heard news of Seth’s appearance, a few of them snuck in as well.) 

First-year Harvard law school student, Sandra Ullman (who was amazingly smart and thoughtful), provided Annie and me with a tour of Harvard law school on Monday morning.  I was able to find a very old copy of Blackstone’s treatise, but unfortunately I could only view it behind glass.  We also observed a criminal law class from the back row.  The discussion was centered on R v Dudley and Stevens, (1884), the English case concerning a shipwreck, a murder and cannibalism on the high seas.  There the Court ultimately held that necessity is not a defense to murder. I enjoyed listening to students formulate answers to questions on necessity and was surprised with their ability to argue a position notwithstanding the unusual factual scenario.  We later had lunch with several of those students. The trip ended with a visit to the WilmerHale office in downtown Boston.    

I left Cambridge with several impressions.  The level of talent there is truly remarkable.  Everyone we had the pleasure of meeting was gifted in a number of areas.  Equally impressive was the level of collegiality there, given the diverse interests.  They made us feel like part of the family, especially at Lowell House.

For me, the highlight of the weekend was finally meeting my friends Noah and Seth in person.  Those two have played a profound role in my life.