LAW 595 - Citizen Lawyers Seminar - Lessons in Leadership

Beyond providing professional advice as counselors at law, lawyers in America have often been selected to become citizen leaders, leadership roles for which law school typically provides little training. When lawyers like you are tapped to play key societal roles in politics, business, and their community, how does traditional legal thinking and analysis work in citizen leadership roles? This class will address that question, and seek to broaden your approach to leadership problem-solving. Most of the class will focus as a case study on how lawyer-leaders performed in 1960-65 as America chose involvement in Vietnam, when they acted in national policy roles during the United States’ role in the Vietnam war. We’ll assess the process and quality of their decision-making, and identify what lessons can be learned for all citizen lawyers for whom “thinking like a lawyer” may not be optimal. Henry Kissinger commented that U.S. foreign policy has suffered in part because key players have often been lawyers, who lack an appropriate historical perspective in making decisions. We’ll consider if that is a valid criticism, and examine better ways for citizen lawyers to act as leaders. First we will look at how the critical leadership failures in America’s mistakes in Vietnam 1960-65, as described in Dereliction of Duty - by Gen. H.R. McMaster. Then we will consider in his new book, At War With Ourselves, how McMaster and other national leaders performed when McMaster served as National Security Advisor to President Trump in turbulent political times.

This class is intended to sharpen your skills in conceptual problem-solving, and how to think beyond narrow legal frameworks when appropriate. The goal is to develop that most vital of all lawyer skills: good judgment. We will assess how ethical factors contribute to better leadership decision skills. And given its new impact on law and leaders, we will briefly consider the impact of AI on lawyers, especially in citizen lawyer roles. Class Approach: There will be assigned readings, selected in part from the books noted above. We will consider four groups of decision makers: White House advisors, the State Department, Congress, and the Pentagon, and evaluate how each “client group” contributed and detracted in the decisions being made. Prominent guest speakers, including H.R. McMaster, may address us as well. Student Eligibility: The seminar is primarily intended for second and third year law students. The course will be graded on a Pass-Fail basis, based on class discussions and a short paper to be submitted after the course conclusion. Primary Assigned Readings: H.R. McMaster’s two books, as noted above.