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Attorney who argued same-sex marriage case before SCOTUS to speak at DPU alma mater Oct. 26
Attorney Douglas Hallward-Driemeier, a 1989 DePauw University graduate whose arguments helped persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in favor of same-sex marriage this summer, will return to his alma mater on Monday, Oct. 26, to present a Timothy and Sharon Ubben Lecture.
The 7:30 p.m. speech in Kresge Auditorium of the Green Center (605 S. College Ave.) is presented free of admission charge and is open to everyone.
As managing partner of Ropes & Gray's Washington, D.C., office Hallward-Driemeier leads the firm's appellate and Supreme Court practice. He has presented more than 50 appellate arguments, including 16 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
He has briefed and argued both civil and criminal matters covering a wide range of subjects and has particular experience in the areas of intellectual property, bankruptcy, the False Claims Act, securities litigation and antitrust.
Hallward-Driemeier rejoined Ropes & Gray in 2010 after spending more than a decade handling civil appeals and Supreme Court litigation for the U.S. Department of Justice. Between 2004 and 2009, he was an assistant to the Solicitor General, where he briefed and argued cases on behalf of the United States before the Supreme Court.
Listed among the Best Lawyers in America, Hallward-Driemeier received the U.S. Department of State's "Superior Honor Award" in recognition of successful representation of the United States in numerous appeals involving World War II-era claims and has been presented with three commendations for outstanding service by the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Division.
A native of Missouri, he was a political science major and Spanish minor at DePauw, he was named a Rhodes Scholar during his senior year and was awarded the 1989 Walker Cup. His father, Doug Driemeier, is a 1960 graduate of DePauw, and his aunt (Joan Driemeier Haskin '64) and two sisters (Doni Driemeier-Showers '86 and Debra Driemeier Danen '92) are also alumni.
Hallward-Driemeier earned a master's of philosophy in politics at Oxford University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
He argued the same-sex marriage case before the high court in April. On June 26, in a landmark decision, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that states cannot keep gay couples from marrying and must recognize their union.
"One of the things that's been so special about being involved in this case was that one of our arguments was about how fundamental marriage is to one's life, and I truly believe that to the core of my being," Hallward-Driemeier told the Washington Business Journal.
"The fundamental right to marry has been recognized by the court for more than half a century," he explained to NPR on the day the ruling was made public. "The court held in 1967 that the states could not prevent interracial couples from marrying, they've held that prisoners cannot be prevented from marrying, they've held that someone cannot be prevented from marrying because they're not up to date on their child support.
"The fundamental nature of the right has already been recognized, so it was just a question of whether these marriages of same-sex couples are indeed marriages in the constitutional sense. And I'm thrilled that a majority of the court recognized that they are."
On May 20, 1989, the day he received his undergraduate degree from DePauw, Hallward-Driemeier addressed his classmates and their families at the university's 150th commencement. "Idealism sets before us the vision of a better society, and challenges us to achieve it," Driemeier stated. "Idealism, properly informed by an understanding of the present reality, allows us through its faith in the possibility of progress, to begin the slow process of building a better world."
Established in 1986 through the support of 1958 DePauw graduates Timothy H. and Sharon Williams Ubben, the Ubben Lecture Series was designed to "bring the world to Greencastle" and has presented 101 programs. As previously announced, human rights activist and author Yeonmi Park will visit DePauw Oct. 5.
Other previous Ubben Lecturers have included Margaret Thatcher, Jimmy Kimmel, Mikhail Gorbachev, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Spike Lee, Dan Quayle, Elie Wiesel, Jesse Jackson, Andrew Luck, Gen. Colin Powell, Jane Goodall, John Major, Ron Paul, Willy Brandt, Bret Baier, Piper Kerman, Jimmy Wales, Brian Mulroney, Mike Krzyzewski, Julian Bond, Gen. Wesley Clark, Bob Woodward, Naomi Wolf, Peyton Manning, Michio Kaku, Ross Perot, Paul Volcker, Karl Rove, Howard Dean, Harry Belafonte, Carl Bernstein, Richard Lugar, Todd Rundgren, Sam Donaldson, Martin Luther King III, David McCullough, Jane Pauley, Jason Reitman, Jim Lovell, William J. Bennett, ice cream entrepreneurs Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, Ralph Nader, Bill Bradley, George Will, Ken Burns, Mitch Albom and many others.