U.S. Constitution with gavelThis column is excerpted from John Feerick's keynote speech delivered on November 18 as part of a New York City Bar Association webcast. The event was the final session of the City Bar's five-part series titled Rule of Law Forum—Preserving the Rule of Law in an Age of Disruption.

I speak today about the home of the rule of law and what lawyers and citizens can contribute to its rebuilding.

At another time in history, with communism, Cuba, civil rights, and racketeering on the agenda, Robert F. Kennedy, in a Law Day address at Georgia Law School in 1961, quoted his brother John Kennedy as saying "law is the strongest link between man and freedom."