Newton, MA--Addressing the Boston College Law School class of 2011, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Roderick L. Ireland told the graduates to remember the three important lessons he learned from law school: be humble; be prepared; and make a difference.

Watch video from the Commencement and awards ceremony

“There is no more noble or rewarding a profession than being a lawyer,” Ireland said. “Each one of us has the power to change a life—each one of us can, and must, do something to make a difference…in this respect, it’s not so much where you start from, but what you do with what you’ve learned."

"Reach out to those who are in need, and be a voice of empowerment for them," he said. In quoting Martin Luther King, the Chief Justice reminded the graduates that "We have to help the least of us, the man farthest down, in order to help ourselves.”

In introducing the Chief Justice, BC Law Interim Dean George Brown pointed out that Ireland may be the only speaker the Law School has ever had with law degrees from three separate American universities. "We’re extremely honored to have the 35th Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court as our Commencement speaker," Brown said. " He’s had an incredibly distinguished career.”

Father William P. Leahy, S.J., the President of Boston College, urged the graduates to use their gifts for the good of all, describing the law as “not just a career, but a calling.”

Two hundred and eighty-five J.D. graduates received degrees at the Law School’s 79th Commencement exercises. Fifteen LL.M. students, the fourth LL.M. class in the history of Boston College Law School, also received degrees.

A native of Springfield, Massachusetts, Ireland received his Bachelor of Arts from Lincoln University; Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School; Master of Laws from Harvard Law School; and Doctor of Philosophy in Law, Policy, and Society from Northeastern University. Chief Justice Ireland began his legal career in 1969 as a Neighborhood Legal Services attorney, then worked as a public defender with the Roxbury Defenders Committee, as chief attorney, deputy director, and executive director. He was Assistant Secretary and Chief Legal Counsel for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Administration and Finance, and Chair of the Massachusetts Board of Appeal on Motor Vehicle Liability Policies and Bond.

Chief Justice Ireland has been a jurist for more than thirty-three years, serving as a judge of the Juvenile Court from 1977 to 1990, after which he was appointed an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court (1990-1997). He was first appointed as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court in 1997, by Governor William F. Weld. He became the Senior Associate Justice in 2008. In 2010 he was appointed as the thirty-fifth Chief Justice by Governor Deval Patrick and was sworn in on December 20. Chief Justice Ireland has been an adjunct faculty member at Northeastern University since 1978, and on the faculty of the Appellate Judges Seminar at New York University Law School since 2001. He is the author of the Juvenile Law volume of Thomson/West Publishing's Massachusetts Practice Series, the second edition of which was published in 2006, as well as law review articles. When he was appointed to the Supreme Judicial Court in 1997, he was the first African-American Justice in its then 305-year history and now serves as its first African-American Chief Justice.

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Boston College Law School opened in 1929 in a small downtown Boston office building with 54 students and two full-time faculty members. Currently ranked 27th in the country by the annual US News & World Report survey, the law school’s highly qualified students are drawn from more than 230 colleges and universities across the United States, as well as in other countries. Nearly 7,000 applicants competed for 261 seats in the entering class last year. The law school’s 11,000+ alumni practice in 50 states and many foreign countries, holding positions in major law firms, corporate in-house legal departments, the judiciary, government agencies, private industry, academic and public interest organizations, and serving as elected state legislators and members of the U.S. Congress.