LCD Graduate Fellow
Graduation season is wrapping up, and this year has seen speeches filled with high-minded idealism, lofty inspiration, and calls for drive and ambition. President Obama, for example, advised the class at Rutgers University that “Qualities like kindness and compassion, honesty, hard work—they often matter more than technical skills or know-how.”
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandburg discussed her experiences dealing with the recent death of her husband, and told the class at UC Berkeley to remember that “anchored deep within you is the ability to learn and grow. You are not born with a fixed amount of resilience. Like a muscle, you can build it up, draw on it when you need it,” she said. “In that process you will figure out who you really are—you just might become the very best version of yourself.”
And U.S. Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland told a fifth-grade class, “When you watch Steph Curry glide down the basketball court, and Beyoncé dance across the stage, it sure looks easy,” he observed. “But every step is a result of hours and hours of practice, discipline, and determination.”
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| Nancy O'Malley |
O’Malley’s father, a former judge in Contra Costa County, is a 1961 graduate of the same school. In addition, her sister graduated from GGU Law in 1985 and her niece graduated from the school in 2014. “So you can see that we have an affinity for this school,” she added.
O’Malley discussed her upbringing and the inspiration she draws from her father, the son of Irish immigrants, who went to law school after having seven children.
She noted further that her own class at GGU was comprised of 50 percent women during a time when other law schools had between 2 and 10 percent female students.
And she discussed the “awesome power” and responsibilities that come with being a lawyer: “Every aspect of our society is affected by the legal system—from signing a contract to resolving family law to protecting the rights and lives of those accused of crimes and the victims impacted by crimes. To upholding a woman’s right to choose or have access to reproductive health, or not. To allow persons of all ethnicities and genders to attend the same schools, or ‘separate but equal’—which was anything but equal.”
Her top advice to the class: “No matter what type of law you practice, you have the great responsibility to uphold and adhere to a strict code of ethics: To be honest and truthful in your profession.”
Further, “It isn’t just about making money—it’s about who you are in your community and what you bring to the table.”
This personal motto became a theme for the speech: “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu,” she added.
O’Malley then discussed her own career in the law, stating that after surviving cancer several years ago, she wanted “a life of speaking for others who needed a voice. And a life of fighting for others who had no fight left, or for those who never had it.”
She noted the initiatives she was most proud of as DA: moving the service providers for victims of interpersonal violence—domestic violence, spousal abuse, elder abuse, and human trafficking—into one building in the county; eliminating the backlog of sexual assault kits in Alameda County; and leading the country in combatting human trafficking through the creation of the H.E.A.T Institute.
“A lot of hard work went into getting at the right tables, but once there, I was prepared and spoke up when the opportunity presented,” she said.
O’Malley concluded: “Those opportunities are the same opportunities that will fall in your path. It will be your choice, you commitment, your courage, and your hard work to be ready—to take your place at the table and to have the courage to speak up.”
