A Cautious but Ambitious Hope
[审慎但宏大的希望]
Yuning Li
(Speech Originally Delivered in English)
Distinguished guests, faculties and staff, families and friends, and my dear fellow graduates! I am Li Yuning. I am honored to speak to you today as we celebrate the commencement of STL Class of 2024. Four years, according to an influential article authored by Dean Mao Shaowei, is indeed “notoriously” long. Hopefully the “notorious” disclaimer was not intended as an assumption-of-risk defense.
尊敬的各位来宾、老师们、同学们、朋友们，大家上午好！我是2024届毕业生李宇宁，很荣幸今天可以在STL毕业典礼上发言。援引茅老师介绍STL法学教育的一篇随笔，四年可能确实是“notoriously”漫长，希望随笔中的这句“免责声明”并不是一种“自甘风险”的辩解。
A question has been asked and shall be answered today. What is the mission for a legal startup called STL and what is the mission for a group of Shenzhen-based legal innovators who teach and study both common and civil laws called STLers? The question was asked to Dean Jeff Lehman and Dean Hai Wen when they established an international J.D. program from scratch sixteen years ago. The question was asked to scholars, practitioners, and guest speakers across the nation and the world who devote themselves to teaching, speaking, and sharing their insights at STL. The question was also asked to students and peers when we go to interviews, conferences, or even happy hours.
一个问题常常被提出，而今天必将得到解答。一个名为STL的“初创企业”和一群在深圳同时讲授学习美国法和中国法的“创业者”的使命是什么？当Jeffrey Lehman院长和海闻院长16年前从零开始，建立起一个国际J.D.项目时就被问道这个问题。当世界各地五湖四海的学者、律师、嘉宾来到STL投身于教学、演讲、经验分享时也会被问到这个问题。而我们也常常被问到这个问题，无论是参加职业面试，交流活动，甚至是“欢乐时光”。
Here is my prompt to help generate some answers. STL represents a cautious but ambitious hope towards the legal profession, the legal system, and the transnational legal order. We clearly understand that our lives are anything but forever, but we still choose to accompany each other four years as students, and even over a decade as professors, not because we are stagnating in a comfort zone, but because we believe the world deserves something better and we have something better to offer.
抛砖引玉，我分享一下我的思考。STL代表了一种审慎但宏大的希望，一种对于法律职业、法律体系、跨国法律秩序的希望。我们当然知道生命并非永恒，但我们仍然选择作为学生相互陪伴四年，作为教授相互陪伴更长时间，甚至十多年，这并非因为我们选择了舒适区的停滞，而是因为我们相信这个世界应该有更好的未来，而我们有能力为之贡献一份力量。
I vividly recall my mixed feelings when I was drafting a moot U.S. Supreme Court opinion on the Appellate Decision-Making Seminar, where we discussed a significant case on the state-secrets doctrine then on appeal in the Supreme Court. Should foreign relations and national security issues receive exceptional treatment before the Court? How should the Court hold the executive accountable while refraining from encroaching the executive for doing its job?
我清楚地记得在上诉法庭决策研讨课上，当起草一份美国最高法院的模拟判决意见时，我复杂的情绪感受。我们讨论了一个当时上诉至美国最高法院的，有关国家秘密证据特权的案件：审理涉及对外关系和国家安全案件时，法院是否以及如何给与特殊对待?法院如何在过分问责和过分尊让之间达成平衡？
We understand that there might be well-intentioned people making reasonable but different arguments, legitimately disagreeing with each other. The cautious but ambitious hope ignited by STL is that we realize that many sociolegal issues are not a binary right-or-wrong, us-or-them zero-sum game. Rather, we believe in proactive optimism rather than reactive cynicism; we habitually refrain from finger-pointing before issue-assessing; and we work hard to build bridges, not barriers.
我们注意到怀着善意的人之间也可能会存在分歧，提出不同但合理的论点。STL点燃的希望是：我们认识到许多法律问题并非二元对立、非此即彼的零和博弈。相反，我们选择主动乐观的心态，而非被动的愤世嫉俗；我们重视实质问题的评估，而不是互相指责；我们努力地使用法律工具去架起桥梁，而非设置路障。
Let me be clear. STL does not represent blind or naïve optimism, where the world is free of injustices and challenges will go away if we just ignore them, be it the eroding civility norms, the growing epistemic divide, the increasing absence of effective multilateralism, or the looming danger of not race-to-the-top, but race-to-the-bottom. These injustices or challenges could be deeply personal. Some of us may worry about career plans amid business uncertainties and disruptive technologies. Some may fear of an invisible but formidable ceiling not based on our performance or contribution, but based on our national origin, ethnicity, or gender. Some may be required to professionally navigate through disheartening dilemmas or be tempted with prizes over principles.
让我明确地说。STL并不代表盲目或天真的乐观主义，认为世界上没有不公正，只要我们选择无视，一切挑战就会消失：无论是日渐削弱的文明规范、日益扩大的认知鸿沟、不断缺席的多边主义，还是代替了逐顶竞争的逐底竞争。这些不公正或挑战可能会深深影响我们的个人生活。我们当中的有些人可能会面临不确定的市场和颠覆性的技术，而为职业发展忧心忡忡；有些人可能会担忧自己遭遇基于血统、肤色、性别的天花板，无法按照表现和贡献正当行使权力和责任；有些人可能不得不在专业生涯中应对两难困境，或者面对为了奖赏而抛弃原则的诱惑。
Fortunately, there are qualities that we adopted through STL. We adopt the resilient qualities of mind and compassionate qualities of heart amid storms, ours and others. There are skillsets that we learned through STL. We learn how to professionally analyze transnational legal issues and we don’t draw hasty conclusions before being fully familiar with the opposing arguments. And most importantly, we learn from each other; we thrive upon each other; and we ignite a shared hope along with each other, a hope of some Shenzhen-based innovative men and women that the world deserves something better and that we, as STLers, have something better to offer. Congratulations! Class of 2024!
高兴的是，我们在STL培养了一些品质：在我们自己和他人经历的风雨飘摇中，我们培养了坚韧勇毅和同理共情的品德。我们在STL也收获了一些技能：我们学会了如何专业地分析跨国法律问题，并且在充分理解对方论点之前，我们不会做出草率的论断。最重要的是，我们互相学习、互相成就、互相点燃了一种共同的希望：这是一群位于改革开放前沿阵地的“创业者”的希望，希望这个世界应该有更美好的未来，而我们作为STLer具有为之贡献的力量。2024届毕业生们：毕业快乐！
BIO
Yuning Li. Municipal and PKU Outstanding Gradate. Research Assistant to Prof. Ray Campbell on Comparative Civil Procedure and to Prof. Gilad Abiri on Artificial Intelligence and Law. National First Prize Winner at Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court. National Scholarship Winner. Internship experience at the World Bank. Incoming LL.M. Candidate at Harvard Law School.
李宇宁，北京市、北京大学优秀毕业生，曾担任Prof. Ray Campbell关于比较民事诉讼法和Prof. Gilad Abiri关于法律与人工智能的科研助理，曾获全国杰赛普国际法模拟法庭比赛团队一等奖，曾获国家奖学金，曾在世界银行实习，即将前往哈佛大学法学院攻读LL.M.学位。
National Scholarship
Jessup International Law Moot Court National First Prize Winner
PKU-Jones Day Legal Talent Training Program Outstanding Graduate
USAI-Szymanski Rule-of-Law Fellow in Washington, DC
Incoming LL.M. student at Harvard Law School
曾获国家奖学金、杰赛普国际法模拟法庭比赛团体一等奖
北大-众达中国全球化与法治人才培养计划优秀学员
USAI-Szymanski华盛顿特区法治人才项目
将前往哈佛大学法学院攻读LL.M.
