In the Studio
Todd Harris
Show Host and Chief Bartender
Todd Harris is an attorney in Northern Virginia, just outside Washington, DC, where he teaches intellectual property law as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center and practices law as a partner at Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP.
Before he practiced law, Todd worked in a series of congregations of the United Methodist Church, where he developed a passion for civil rights and the pursuit of bridge-building dialog among diverse communities.
Todd is a graduate of the Yale Law School and the Yale Divinity School, and he previously studied philosophy and theology at 2 German universities (Frankfurt and Tübingen). For the past 20 years, he’s been encouraging professionals to consider the big questions confronting American law and American lawyers.
As the host of the TendingBar podcast, Todd will introduce us to a variety of interesting guests who each have something important to say about the higher purposes of the American system of law and justice.
About Our Show
TendingBar is a celebration of the American legal system and the people who make it work. Our podcast conversations encourage listeners to think about the values we serve through the American system of law and justice, while we hear about the lives and perspectives of interesting lawyers, lawmakers, academics and other professionals.
TendingBar shares conversations with a variety of lawyers and other guests — including some of our host’s students at the Georgetown University Law Center — as we reflect upon the ideals that motivate them personally and that undergird our system of law and justice. TendingBar’s guests view the law as a way to serve others, and we’ll hear their fascinating stories as they each answer “Why the law?”
TendingBar’s host, Todd Harris, grew up in Birmingham, Alabama at a time when the hard-fought legal battles of the 60’s civil rights movement were working their way into practical application. Raised by progressive Methodists who strongly supported school desegregation (he was a student in one of Birmingham’s first integrated classes), he learned to view advocacy for just laws and public policies as a natural outgrowth of principled ethics. After serving on the pastoral staffs of several congregations, Todd started tending to “the bar” (being a lawyer) in the Washington, D.C. metro, where TendingBar is produced. Like TendingBar’s guests, Todd saw service to the law as a practical way to serve both his clients and the wider community. The TendingBar podcast will ask our guests to tell us about their “higher purposes” in serving America’s legal system.
At TendingBar, we recognize that lawyers are often motivated to study law by their desire to serve big ideas like equality, justice and fairness. We also recognize that the law alone is not enough to fully achieve those goals, and that a stronger, healthier America requires the collaboration of entire communities of people devoted to the greater good – lawyers, academics, clergy, politicians and so many others. That’s why, in addition to attorneys, we’ll share conversations with all kinds of collaborators who share a sense of greater purpose.
TendingBar aims to explore and reclaim the higher, better spirit of the legal profession and all those who support and maintain the “lawful society” — a reminder about the reasons we serve, and the values that should unite us all.
