Karl Racine sworn in as the District of Columbia’s first elected attorney general in 2015 and was reelected to a second term in 2018. As the chief legal officer for the District of Columbia, Racine relies on his nearly 30 years of legal and leadership experience to advise the mayor and District agencies, defend the city in court, and use the law to advance the public interest.

His career includes representing indigent residents in D.C., volunteering in a clinic supporting migrant farm workers’ rights, serving as associate White House counsel in the first Clinton Administration, and practicing white-collar and commercial litigation with leading law firms. While in private practice, Attorney General Racine was elected managing partner Venable LLP and became the first African American managing partner of a top-100 American law firm.

In addition to discussing his career, Attorney General Racine will talk personally about how current and aspiring lawyers can find ways to use the law to uplift vulnerable residents.

The Attorney General Jon Burning Lecture was established to provide an opportunity for students to focus on the significance of dedicating all or a portion of one’s career to public service. Bruning served as attorney general of Nebraska from 2003-2015 and as a state senator from 1997-2002. Bruning graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with high distinction and graduated with distinction from the Nebraska College of Law in 1994.

This program has been approved for .42 continuing legal education credit in Nebraska.