It is commonly believed that the Watergate scandal of the early 1970s led to an increase in the number of young people pursuing careers in journalism.
The work of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post is often cited as a factor leading many college age students of that time to see the merits in a life holding the powerful to account.
As the summer of 2023 turns into the summer of holding former President Donald Trump accountable, we wonder whether the news of the day will lead present day college students to decide to pursue a career in the law.
Alvin Bragg, Fani Willis, Jack Smith, Merrick Garland, Letitia James all might be considered the Woodward and Bernstein of the current age.
Many Trump observers have long felt he has spent a lifetime avoiding accountability for his business practices and his time in the White House. Until now, the Republican Party has failed to hold him accountable, Congress has failed to hold him accountable, the voters have only partly held him accountable.
It has taken the courts and a small group of prosecutors, from various jurisdictions, to throw up some guardrails around a man used to playing by his own rules.
The questions are:
Is the current generation paying attention?
Are law school age students impressed?
Are they sufficiently impressed that they might consider the law a calling?