SARATOGA SPRINGS — Ten days after she convinced a civil jury in Manhattan to find that former President Donald Trump sexually abused columnist E. Jean Carroll and defamed her, attorney Roberta A. Kaplan advised Albany Law School’s graduating class Friday to “be brave” and take on challenges in their future legal professions.
Citing gun violence, threats to democracy, climate changes, soaring income inequality and an increase in hate crimes, among other issues, Kaplan told the class of 202 graduates at Albany Law School’s 172nd commencement ceremony that they were exiting law school at one of the most unsettled moments in the nation’s history.
“The rule of law has taken a beating and has never looked more tenuous, but it is far too easy to simply give up and become cynical, to decide that nothing really matters and that there is nothing we can do to fix it,” said Kaplan during the ceremony at Saratoga Performing Arts Center.
“As lawyers, you have a duty to act… don’t be passive. You have agency now. Use it. So when you see a problem, don’t just wait for a solution to magically present itself. Instead ask yourself, ‘If not me, who? If not now, when? ‘ ”
On May 9, a nine-member civil jury in Manhattan federal court found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll, an advice columnist, in a Manhattan department store in 1996 and that he later defamed her. It awarded Carroll $5 million in damages. The jury rejected Carroll’s allegation that Trump raped her.
On Friday, the crowd attending the law school graduation loudly cheered after Alicia Quellette, the school’s outgoing dean and president, introduced Kaplan, known as “Robbie,” a friend since both were law clerks at the Court of Appeals in Albany, the top court in New York, in 1995. She acknowledged that some graduates may not agree politically with Kaplan, but asked all of…
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