9 July 2010

The TC Beirne School of Law at The University of Queensland is hosting a public lecture by the Chief Justice of the United States in Brisbane this month.

The Honourable John G. Roberts, Jr will give the lecture at the Banco Court, Supreme Court Building, Brisbane, on Thursday, July 29, in association with the Australian American Leadership Dialogue.

UQ Dean of Law and Head of School Professor Ross Grantham said he was delighted that the School had been given the opportunity to host this important event, which due to overwhelming demand was already fully booked.

"Chief Justice Roberts will discuss the origins of the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution," he said.

"This is a rare opportunity to hear from one of the outstanding legal leaders and thinkers of our time."

Chief Justice Roberts graduated from Harvard Law School in 1979.

He served as a law clerk for Judge Henry J Friendly of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1979-1980) and for then-Associate Justice William H Rehnquist of the Supreme Court of the United States (1980 Term) before moving on to hold the roles of Special Assistant to the Attorney General, US Department of Justice (1981-1982), Associate Counsel to President Ronald Reagan (1982-1986) and Principal Deputy Solicitor General, US Department of Justice (1989-1993).

He then practised law in Washington DC (1986-1989) (1993-2003), before his appointment to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 2003.

He was nominated as Chief Justice of the United States by President George W Bush and took his seat on September 29, 2005.

Chairman of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue Mr Chris Butler said the AALD were looking forward to welcoming Chief Justice Roberts to Australia.

“The AALD is a private bipartisan diplomatic initiative established by Mr Phil Scanlan (currently Australia’s Consul General in New York) to foster mutual understanding between Australia and the United States, and is now in its 19th year.

“We hope this year’s visit by the Chief Justice of the United States will provide further opportunities to develop a broader and deeper relationship.”

The Brisbane lecture is one of three being presented by Chief Justice Roberts during his visit to Australia, with lectures also taking place at Melbourne Law School on 27 July and Sydney Law School on 28 July, respectively.