2023 Ron Rotunda Memorial Webinar: The State of the Legal Profession

With Greg Jacob, former counselor to Vice President Pence

I had Professor Ron Rotunda for Constitutional Law in 2007. But for Ron, I doubt I would have become a constitutional law professor. He inspired me in ways I still think about to this day. In 2018, Ron suddenly passed away, far too young. The following year, I wrote a remembrance about Ron in the Chapman Law Review.

The Federalist Society has created a new annual webinar in Ron's memory about the state of the legal profession. It was my honor to moderate the first session. Greg Jacob, who served as a counselor to Vice President Pence on January 6, 2021, was our distinguished speaker.

I encourage you to watch this video, and hear Greg's story. There was no playbook for what he had to do between election day and inauguration day. I think he modeled the highest standards of ethics and zealous advocacy for his client, the country, and the rule of law. And credit is also due to Greg's very small staff, who worked under extreme pressure to resolve difficult legal questions. (For those curious, Judge Luttig was not an advisor to Vice President Pence, and did not even speak to the VP until January 8 or so; Jacob merely cited a Luttig tweet in the dear-colleague letter that was already written.)