Anita Hill remembers the life and legacy of Charles Ogletree

Charles Ogletree, noted attorney and Harvard Law School professor, died last week after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer's disease. He was a world renowned figure known as a champion for civil rights and justice. Ogletree had many notable clients, including Anita Hill, who he represented when she accused then-Supreme Court nominee Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment.

Hill joined WBUR's Morning Edition host Rupa Shenoy to talk about the life and legacy of Ogletree.

On how Hill is remembering the life and legacy of Charles Ogletree

Hill: First of all, he was an eloquent speaker and a great storyteller, and he saw the law as a compelling force in the human experience. He was able to tell the story of reparations in Tulsa and the story of civil rights and human rights throughout the globe, including in South Africa.

He endeavored to open people's minds to the reality of how race and class and gender and justice collide.

On when she first met Ogletree

I first met Charles Ogletree back in the early- to mid-'80s when we were both young law teachers. We were part of a generation of legal scholars whose lives had been shaped by Brown v. the Board of Education, and we were moving into law teaching and reforming the way the law was being taught and perceived.

I met him as I was a coach of my moot court team at the University of Oklahoma, and Charles was the coach of a moot court team from Harvard. And Charles liked to say that my teams always beat his, but I'm sure that his teams had the best coach.

On why Ogletree was chosen to represent Hill during the Thomas hearings

It wasn't that Charles Ogletree was a specialist in sexual harassment, but what was really important was that Charles understood that the laws that he had been working on were really relevant to this issue of sexual harassment. And he was a gifted trial lawyer, and so he knew that it was important for my story to be heard.

On the importance of Ogletree's support for Hill during the hearings

It was absolutely critical. I can't imagine having to go through that process without his support and his leadership. Charles's legal expertise was absolutely necessary for me to feel confident stepping up and giving my testimony.

On who carries on Ogletree's legacy

There is no one individual who can replace Charles Ogletree. There are plenty of people out there who are among that generation who grew up in the civil rights era, who went into law because of what they saw and experienced as a child and what their parents have experienced. I think all of Charles Ogletree's students and really any number of people who have followed his work and followed in his footsteps, we all have to step up.