To commemorate our founding in 1914, the Board of Editors has selected six influential pieces published by the Law Review over the past 100 years and will republish one piece in each issue.

The third piece selected by the Board is The Special Skills of Advocacy, a lecture delivered by the late Chief Justice Warren E. Burger that is among the most cited works in the Law Review’s history. Speaking at Fordham Law School on November 26, 1973, Chief Justice Burger advocated for law schools to better prepare students for skillful courtroom advocacy, declaring that “[w]e must acknowledge, I submit, that good advocates are made . . . by study, by observation of experts and by training with experts.”

Chief Justice Burger’s address was part of the John F. Sonnett Memorial Lecture Series, which was founded to honor alumnus John Sonnett. The lecture series brought many of the finest jurists in the world to Fordham Law School, including Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court and Chief Justices of the high courts of Ireland and England and Wales. In an effort to make the remarks of these great judges and lawyers available to the broader public, the Law Review has been collaborating with prominent alumni to republish this august lecture series.