{"id":4998,"date":"2026-06-18T09:44:36","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T13:44:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/?p=4998"},"modified":"2026-06-18T09:44:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T13:44:36","slug":"the-rule-of-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/2026\/06\/the-rule-of-law\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rule of Law"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ronald Weich, dean of Seton Hall Law, guides the next generation of lawyers to fortify and improve our legal institutions.<\/em><\/p>\n

Before he ever stepped into a courtroom, Ronald Weich watched one come to life in black and white. As a kid, Weich loved watching TV reruns of Perry Mason<\/em>, the popular legal drama featuring a sharp criminal defense attorney as the title character. But the law was more personal than that for him because his mother was an attorney, and he was impressed by her dedication.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw how much she enjoyed being a lawyer. She was a very strong advocate for her clients, and she inspired me,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Today, Weich is the dean of the Seton Hall University School of Law, and he credits those early exposures for influencing his decision to become a lawyer. His legal career has been varied, a quality he appreciates.<\/p>\n

Weich came to Seton Hall Law in 2024, after serving 12 years as dean at the University of Baltimore School of Law. The preceding three decades saw him in Manhattan courtrooms as a criminal prosecutor, in the halls of Congress as a legislative counsel, accepting an appointment by President Barack Obama to serve as an assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice, and as a partner in a D.C. law firm.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had a series of very exciting legal jobs. My job at Seton Hall is the most exciting of all. It’s unusual to become a law school dean from outside academia, from the practice of law,\u201d Weich says about his transition into higher education in 2012. \u201cIt\u2019s been a great opportunity to take all of my experiences and pass on what I\u2019ve learned to the next generation of lawyers.\u201d<\/p>\n

One principle that\u2019s guided him throughout his career now shapes his role at Seton Hall: \u201cA law degree is a license to help others,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

This conviction applies to all types of legal practice, Weich notes. His early experience in the district attorney\u2019s office, for instance, motivated him to pursue new ways to impact society.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a prosecutor, I didn\u2019t feel I was doing enough to improve public safety,\u201d he says. \u201cBut working in the Senate, I was able to advocate for programs that prevented people from committing crimes, like drug treatment, drug education, and mental health services. I was able to make more of a difference as a policymaker than as a prosecutor.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he was counsel to U.S. Sen. Edward M. (Ted) Kennedy, he helped write the 1992 law that established the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. \u201cEstablishing that agency really sharpened the federal response to the drug epidemic,\u201d Weich says, affirming his values-centered approach to public service.<\/p>\n

He also saw the government\u2019s fidelity to the rule of law tested. While Weich served as Kennedy\u2019s chief counsel, the Senate considered a proposed Constitutional amendment to exempt flag burning from the free speech clause in the First Amendment.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one defended flag burning,\u201d Weich says, \u201cbut Sen. Kennedy opposed that Constitutional amendment because it would dilute the First Amendment. I was proud to help him successfully defend the Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though he\u2019s no longer in the courtroom or on the Senate floor, Weich knows his responsibility to the rule of law is paramount. \u201cI\u2019ve seen the Constitution in action over the course of my career. Now, as a law school dean, it\u2019s my job to help law students understand key institutions and values, and to make sure we\u2019re graduating law students who are equipped to defend legal institutions and, at the same time, strive to make them better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lori (Varga) Riley, M.A. \u201806, is a freelance writer living in New Jersey.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ronald Weich, dean of Seton Hall Law, guides the next generation of lawyers to fortify and improve our legal institutions. Before he ever stepped into a courtroom, Ronald Weich watched one come to life in black and white. As a kid, Weich loved watching TV reruns of Perry Mason, the popular legal drama featuring a…<\/p>\n

Continue ReadingThe Rule of Law<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":5820,"featured_media":5033,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[351,14,5,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-2025-2029","category-campus","category-faculty","category-university-life","entry"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5820"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4998"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5001,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4998\/revisions\/5001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}