Law School Honored to Have Chief Justice Speak

Chief Justice John G. Roberts

When John G. Roberts Jr., chief justice of the United States, delivers the 9th Annual James P. White Lecture on Legal Education at Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis on April 7, 2010, he will be the third member of the U.S. Supreme Court to participate in the event.

Roberts is the first chief justice to deliver the White lecture at the law school which is on the IUPUI campus. Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor gave the inaugural White lecture in 2002 and Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg gave the lecture in 2007.

“The law school is privileged and honored to have the top jurist in the country, if not the world, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., speaking as part of the prestigious James P. White Lecture on Legal Education series,” says Gary R. Roberts, dean of the IU School of Law – Indianapolis. “Our students, faculty, alumni and friends are all eager to hear what the Chief Justice has to say. We are excited to have a speaker with his knowledge, experience and influence for this occasion.”

Attendance at the April 7 lecture is by invitation only. The law school will webcast the lecture live at 5 p.m. on the law school’s Web site, www.indylaw.indiana.edu .

Chief Justice Roberts, a New York native, attended grade school and high school in Indiana. Roberts received a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College in 1976 and a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School in 1979.

He served as a law clerk for then-Associate Justice William H. Rehnquist during the 1980 Supreme Court term. Before his appointment to the Supreme Court, Roberts’ professional experience included serving as judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Nominated as chief justice by President George W. Bush, Roberts assumed that office on September 29, 2005.

The James P. White lecture series is named in honor of IU School of Law-Indianapolis faculty member James P. White who served as the American Bar Association consultant on legal education from 1974-2000. Upon White’s retirement as an ABA consultant, ABA members and other friends contributed to the establishment of an annual lecture series in his name