Inaugural Leadership and Character in the Law Conference Draws 100 to Wake Forest

More than 100 law educators attended our inaugural Leadership and Character in the Law Conference on March 27 and 28, 2025. The events began with a discussion about navigating differences, featuring current North Carolina Supreme Court Justice (and Wake Forest School of Law graduate) Phil Berger, Jr. and former justice Michael Morgan. The first day concluded with a keynote address from North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson. The conference continued with several panels on the role of character in both the classroom and in the legal profession, touching on topics like professional identity formation, character-based citizenship, wellbeing, and flourishing.

“This is the best conference I’ve ever attended,” one attendee said afterward. “This feels like a movement. How can we keep it going?” asked another.

The conference has led to a special issue on “Leadership and Character in the Law” with the Journal of Legal Education, the nation’s leading peer-edited law journal.

The two-day gathering was organized by the Program for Leadership and Character and School of Law at Wake Forest, in partnership with the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), and was supported by the Kern Family Foundation.

North Carolina Attorney General Delivers Keynote

North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson delivered the keynote address, and detailed his journey from a soldier in Afghanistan to prosecutor, state senator, member of Congress, and now, statewide office. “As a prosecutor, you get total fidelity to conscience,” he said. His job as attorney general “has to be about defense of people.”

Jackson, just 85 days into office, talked about building trust, the importance of learning limits to power, and his approach to leading the North Carolina Department of Justice and its 1,000-plus employees. “One of the things mission-driven people tend not to do is celebrate their wins,” he said. “We [as leaders] have to pause to celebrate.

The Attorney General talked about several current and upcoming cases, and offered some closing thoughts to students who were getting ready to enter the workforce. “Rethink your grand plan, because there may be something wonderful out there,” he said. “If you would take a pay cut to do that job, that’s your mission.”

Jackson was introduced by Wake Forest University School of Law dean Andrew Klein, and the question-and-answer session was moderated by Allyson Gold, Associate Dean for Experiential Learning and Director of the Medical-Legal Partnership (MLP) Clinic.