Judge Sol Blatt honored at Law & Society symposium

This Fall marks the 20th anniversary of the first class at Charleston School of Law. Throughout the academic year we will celebrate the alumni, faculty, programs and key events that shaped Charleston Law into the successful law school it is today.

Dateline: October 20, 2006

The Charleston School of Law recognized Judge Sol Blatt Jr. for his contributions to the legal profession at the annual Law & Society Symposium. 

“It it is with the greatest of respect, indeed, your honor, with extreme reverence, that the founders of the Charleston School of Law — Judge Sanders, Judge Carr, Judge Kosko, Professor McCullough (and Dean Richard Gershon) — present this portrait of you to the Charleston School of Law, where it will hang for all the years that there is a Charleston School of Law.”

Senators Lindsey Graham and Fritz Hollings, and Judge Alex Sanders along with high-ranking legal officials were also in attendance for the event.

The portrait was designed by Michael Del Priore, an American master portrait artist with an international reputation, known for oil and pastel portraits that reside in the Capitol buildings in Washington and Columbia. The framed painting now hangs in the Law Library on campus.

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham on Judge Sol Blatt Jr.:

“I was asked to say a few words this afternoon to summarize the life and career of Judge Sol Blatt Jr. I decided immediately that is an impossible task. There is no way I can do justice to a 60 year stellar career in the law, so instead I’ve chosen to focus on one quality of Judge Blatt’s life: respect. Most of you know Judge Blatt was born into a very famous and respected South Carolina political family.  But respect must be earned. It cannot be bought, and it cannot be inherited. He could have settled easily into a comfortable life in the political arena. But he didn’t do that. He set out to make his own mark, to earn respect on his own merit.”

“In a very few individuals in life, a select few, respect becomes so universal, so long lived, and so great, that over time, and very imperceptibly, mere respect is transformed into a form of reverence. I know that I can speak without hesitation or fear of contradiction and speaking for the thousands of lawyers who have appeared before Judge Blatt. Over the decades, and for his colleagues on the bench, who come to Judge Blatt with their difficult legal problems, and still seek his counsel, that Judge Blatt, you are not simply respected in the law, but you are revered as one of the giants in South Carolina legal history.”

Charleston School of Law 20th Anniversary

JUDGE SOL BLATT JR. SPEAKS AT LAW & SOCIETY SYMPOSIUM

The 2006 Law & Society Symposium, co-sponsored by the Riley Institute at Furman University, also featured a keynote message from Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.

Justice Roberts hosted a Q&A questions with panelists:

  • The Honorable William W. Wilkins, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
  • Honorable P. Michael Duffy, a U.S. District Judge for the District of South Carolina
  • Professor John L. S. Simpkins, a graduate of Harvard University and Duke Law School.
  • Charleston Law student Ashley Rockwell (’07)

Dean Richard Gershon on Chief Justice Roberts:

“I’ve got to know Justice Roberts for the last couple of years, and he really is an honest, decent, hardworking, good husband, good father, and God has put him in the right place at the right time. That’s the thing about our country. It seems to be that the right men and women emerge to lead our nation in times of trouble and I think that’s exactly what Justice Roberts will do for us. What we’ve seen in politics is a politicizing of the law. That’s very unhealthy. One of the strongest institutions in our state has been our judiciary.”

“The law only works if justice is rendered and for our state to go to the next level, we’re going to have to render justice to our people and it’s through these young students who will become the lawyers and judges. It will be through you that we will render justice to our people. So, Mr. Chief Justice, I am honored that you chose to come to South Carolina and that you’ve decided to visit our school.”

PHOTOS CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN G. ROBERTS JR.

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