May 12, 2007 It was a perfect day for a graduation.

One-hundred-thirty-eight Thomas Jefferson School of Law students marched into the Organ Pavilion in San Diego's Balboa Park under postcard blue skies for the school's May 2007 Commencement and to receive the degree of juris doctor.

Valedictorian Donald Ostertag told his fellow graduates "as young members of the legal community we really are lucky to graduate from a school that is on its way up, a school that employs faculty and administration who truly care about the students and the advancement of the legal profession."

View Donald Ostertag's Valedictory Address

"It is our duty to ourselves and to one another to show by example that graduates from Thomas Jefferson School of Law are hard-working, ethical, humble members of the legal community," Ostertag added. "I am proud to be graduating from this fine school, and I am proud to be graduating alongside this dedicated, respectable, honorable group of fellow classmates. I am confident that with our combined efforts, we can achieve immeasurable success, both personally and as an institution.

View Judge Lim's Commencement Address

The commencement speaker was The Honorable Lillian Y. Lim, a Thomas Jefferson graduate who became the first appointed Filipino woman judge in the United States and the first Filipino judge in San Diego. She received an honorary degree from Dean Rudy Hasl -- Doctor of Laws Honoris Causa -- and told the graduating students that, because she is retiring in August and going back into practice, she is in a way embarking on the same journey as they are.

Like a veteran performer or a standup comedian, Judge Lim immediately had the podium moved aside so that she could hold the microphone and deliver her speech off the cuff. She called the audience to order and declared "the San Diego Superior Court is now in session."

The graduates heard Judge Lim tell the inspiring story of how civil rights attorney Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center got a court injunction to stop the Ku Klux Klan from terrorizing the Vietnamese immigrants who became part of the shrimp fishing industry in Galveston, Texas, in the 1970's.

Worried that the injunction might just be a piece of paper, Judge Lim says Dees went to the docks in the morning and saw lights on the water that he thought might be reflection from the sun rising. As it turns out, she said, it was Coast Guard boats with U.S. Marshals aboard to protect the shrimp fleet from further incidents.

This story shows, said Judge Lim, what a difference a lawyer can make in society. "For me, and I hope for you, this story stands for the triumph of the rule of law over hatred and over violence. It stands for the power and responsibility you have as lawyers. So would I do anything differently if I had to do it over again? No. I'm a lawyer and I will be a lawyer again once I step away from the Bench. And you, as my fellow lawyers, will journey far from here on the greatest adventure within the greatest profession. In doing that stay connected to our School, to your teachers and to your classmates. Because much like the U.S. Marshals at Galveston Bay, our School, your teachers and your classmates will keep you safe as you make your way out of the harbor to the excellent life as an attorney."

Most of the new graduates will immediately begin studying for the bar exam in California or elsewhere - something former TJSL Alumni Association President Randy Grossman referred to as "that little pop quiz" when he briefly addressed the graduates at the ceremony.

Grossman also invited them to be active in the TJSL Alumni Association which, he noted, is now more than 5,000 members strong.

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