Viet Dinh ’93 on government, academia, and boutique law practice

Viet D. Dinh ’93, founding partner of Bancroft and a professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center, spoke at Harvard Law School on Sept. 18 at an event sponsored by Harvard Law School’s Program on the Legal Profession. Dinh, who served as U.S. assistant attorney general for legal policy from 2001 to 2003 and played a key role in developing legal policy initiatives to combat terrorism, focused his remarks on “Peripatetic Reflections: Government, Academia and Boutique Law Practice.”

Dinh reflected on his career in academia and government, discussing the commonality and challenge of choosing between the public and private spheres throughout one’s career.  He also shared his views on how the legal profession is handling this time of economic and global change.

Dinh, a leading expert on corporate governance and regulatory compliance, focuses his scholarship on constitutional and corporation law. On behalf of the U.S. government, he successfully argued Nevada v. Hibbs before the Supreme Court, an appeal by the State of Nevada seeking immunity from suit under the Family and Medical Leave Act. During his time at the Department of Justice, Dinh worked to reform civil and criminal justice procedures, and played a key role in developing  legal policy initiatives, including the USA Patriot Act.

Watch a video of his lecture on the HLS website.

The event was part of the Program on the Legal Profession’s speaker series, which brings leading business experts and legal researchers and practitioners from around the world to speak on globalization and changes within the legal profession.