前不久我参加了一个威廉.科尔曼(William Coleman) 先生在哈佛的演讲会。威廉.科尔曼是美国民权运动的先驱，曾在福特总统内阁担任交通部长，并先后担任多位美国总统的顾问。他的女儿毕业于耶鲁大学法学院，曾在美国司法部供职，现在是一名执业律师。女儿简短地介绍了一些父亲的事迹，因为父亲“太谦虚了，自己不会说出来。”科尔曼先生曾是哈佛法学院历史上最早参与《哈佛法学评论》编辑工作的少数几个黑人学生之一科尔曼以全班第一的优异成绩毕业，并且成为美国最高法院首个黑人大法官助理。他是布朗诉托皮卡教育委员会案(Brown vs. Board of Education)（1954年）的主要律师，这是美国最高法院有关人权的一个具有里程碑意义的案件，宣判在公立学校实行种族隔离制度是违宪的。他曾为19个美国最高法院案件做辩护律师。

威廉.科尔曼曾在美国有色人种民权促进协会（NAACP）担任该协会国家法律委员会成员、执行委员会总监兼法律辩护与教育基金会主席。科尔曼也曾担先后任艾森豪威尔总统政府就业政策委员（1959年-1961年），调查肯尼迪总统遇刺案委员会（又称沃伦委员会）高级顾问兼助理法律顾问（1964年），以及美国军备控制与裁军署顾问（1963年-1975年）。 

他的新书《特殊使命的律师—日益完善法律，成就美国梦想》(Counsel for the Situation: Shaping the Law to Realize America’s Promise)刚刚由布鲁金斯学会出版社出版（http://tinyurl.com/3a2pjuq）。美国最高法院9位法官之一——Stephen G. Breyer法官为该书撰写了序言。美国前国务卿基辛格博士这样描述科尔曼先生和他的书：“威廉.科尔曼属于那类日渐稀有的杰出公民政治家，他从不沽名钓誉，但是他的智慧光辉使其在法律领域走向成功的巅峰。对正义的激情促使他毕生致力于民权，报效祖国的责任感让他进入政府最高层。这本触动人心的回忆录总结了他非凡的一生，以及铸就其辉煌事业的洞察力与智慧。”

能够有机会聆听科尔曼先生的演讲并见到他本人，我感到万分荣幸。今年初，他刚刚庆祝了自己的90岁生日。老人家依然思维敏捷，富于活力。

当科尔曼先生为我在书上签名时，提到他的律师事务所O'Melveny and Myers（他是该所的高级合伙人）在中国有不少名律师。他说他非常热爱中国。 

我期待着尽快读完《特殊使命的律师—日益完善法律，成就美国梦想为形势而辩护》这本书，并与大家一起分享我的所学所感。

Meeting a Towering Figure in America's Legal Profession

I attended a speaking event by William Coleman who is one of the pioneers of the civil rights movement in the US, having served as secretary of the transportation under President Ford and has been advisor to a number of US Presidents.  His daughter, a graduate of Yale Law School, formerly with the US Department of Justice and now a practicing attorney, did the introduction of his father to say a few things that her dad "would be too modest to say it himself".  Mr. Coleman is only the third or fourth black students in Harvard Law School's history at the time.  He was on the Harvard Law Review, graduated first in his class, and was the first black law clerk at the US Supreme Court.  He was the main counsel in the Brown vs. Board of Education (1954), a landmark US Supreme Court case which held racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. He argued 19 US Supreme Court cases.

He served as a member of the NAACP's national legal committee, director and member of its executive committee, and president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Coleman was also a member of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Committee on Government Employment Policy (1959-1961), a senior consultant and assistant counsel to the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy (aka, the Warren Commission) (1964), and a consultant to the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (1963-1975).

His new book titled "Counsel for the Situation" was just published by Brookings Institution Press (http://tinyurl.com/3a2pjuq).  The Foreword was written by Associate Justice Stephen G. Breyer who is one of the 9 sitting justices of the US Supreme Court.  Here is how Dr. Henry Kissinger, former U.S. secretary of state, described Mr. Coleman and his book: "William Coleman belongs to the diminishing breed of distinguished citizen-statesmen who never sought the limelight, but whose brilliant intellect brought him to the pinnacle of success in the legal field, whose passion for the justice drove his commitment to civil rights, and whose sense of obligation to serve his country let him to the highest echelons of government.  His engaging memoir sums up his exceptional life with the insight and wisdom which have defined it".

It was truly a privilege to have the opportunity to hear from and meet with Mr. Coleman.  He early in the year just celebrated his 90th birthday.  He is still very sharp and appears vibrant. 

When Mr. Coleman was signing his book for me, he mentioned that his law firm, O'Melveny and Myers (where he is a senior partner) has 125 lawyers in China.  He told me how much he loved China. 

I look forward to reading "Counsel for the Situation" and share my learning with you.