On September 8th, JWI hosted its third Leadership and the Law Awards Gala which celebrated the career of Professor Hadley Arkes, the founder and co-director of JWI.

Inaugurated in 2021, the Leadership & the Law Award is designed to recognize those who have dedicated their lives to enriching the jurisprudence of the United States. Previous awardees include former Attorney General William Barr and Judge Janice Rodgers Brown. The gala, held at historic Anderson House in Washington D.C., gathered ninety supporters for an intimate evening of stories about Arkes’s career-long contributions to shape the moral foundations of law. The Anderson House is also home to the Museum of the American Revolution, a fitting venue for JWI as we are named after one of the premier minds among the American Founders. The Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, Ross and Mary Read, Doug Neff and Michael Maibach generously sponsored the event.

JWI’s chairman of the board Doug Neff welcomed guests. A former student of Hadley’s, Doug plays an integral part of carrying on Professor Arkes’ legacy through JWI. Two more former students followed, former Congressman Tom Davis and Jed Doty, the current deputy general counsel in the executive office of the Florida governor. Jed’s remark, “I firmly believe that your voice has never been more important, more necessary than it is right now,” nicely captured the tenor of the evening.

Professor Arkes was then awarded JWI’s Leadership and the Law Award by his co-director, Professor Gerry Bradley. Guests were treated to a slideshow of Professor Arkes through his time teaching, speaking and forming lives across the legal profession. This was a both apt and amusing reminder of the length and influence Professor Arkes has had on so many lives and careers.

Professor Arkes was then joined by Professor Bradley for a fireside chat, where the crowd learned, among other things, the impact Hadley had on shaping the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, signed into law in 2002 by President George W. Bush, as well as the continued importance of JWI’s mission to teach the next generation of lawyers and law students the first principles of moral and legal judgement.

Mr. Maibach closed the night’s program by recognizing JWI’s bright future and the continuation of Hadley’s legacy. As guests said goodbye, we at JWI were overwhelmed with gratitude at their willingness to travel to the gala to witness to what we are undoubtedly most grateful for: Professor Arkes gifts as a teacher as well as an intellectual leader.