Law grads told to try, try again.

Byline: Jim Feehan The Register-Guard

The lawyer who represented Vice President Al Gore in his legal challenge of the Florida election results in the 2000 presidential sweepstakes urged graduates of this year's University of Oregon Law School class to fight the good fight - even if it means losing.

David Boies, who successfully represented Gore in the Florida Supreme Court but lost before the U.S. Supreme Court, told the 160 members of the 2003 law school class on Sunday to respect the judicial process, take cases that will make the nation better and never be afraid to lose.

"Don't be afraid to take on the hard cases," he said. "Your ability to get back off the canvas will make you a better lawyer."

The high-profile litigator hasn't spent much time on the losing end in his 30-plus years as a lawyer. Named attorney of the year by the National Law Journal in 2000, Boies served as special trial counsel on the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust case against Microsoft.

In another famous case, Boies won a legal reprieve for Napster, the music-sharing Web site. Other notable clients have included George Steinbrenner and the New York Yankees in a suit against Major League Baseball, and CBS in a libel suit brought by U.S. Gen. William Westmoreland. Boies also helped win a $1 billion settlement from financier Michael Milken on behalf of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Following the Gore vs. Bush Supreme Court decision, Boies said reporters repeatedly asked him why outraged citizens were not marching on Washington, D.C. Boies said the level of confidence in the country's democratic principles remains steadfast among most Americans.

"We know that their will be another (presidential) election and that one will be fair and square," he said.

Boies said lawyers should push the legal limits of advocacy, while being a force for change. He said that was no more apparent than in the Microsoft antitrust case.

He said Microsoft's credibility was severely undercut when an economist testifying on behalf of the software giant said that profits alone is not the only measurement of whether a company enjoys monopoly power.

"Effective advocacy is your most precious commodity," he said. "When you have it, the courtroom is yours."

While strides have been made for racial and gender equality in the courts over the past generation, Boies said "an enormous amount of work needs to be done to hold on to what we've accomplished."

"Remember to never give up, and never expect the other side to give up," he told the graduates. About 1,500 people attended the commencement ceremony in the Silva Concert Hall at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts.

Ellen Rosenblum, an Oregon circuit court judge and secretary of the 400,000-member American Bar Association, received the top law school award for meritorious service. She is a 1975 graduate of the school.