By Robert Iafolla
Daily Journal Staff Writer

WASHINGTON-On a summer day in 1963, litigator Sanford Jay Rosen was one of the hundreds of thousands on hand to witness Martin Luther King Jr.'s historic "I Have a Dream" speech delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

For Rosen, then 25 years old, King's passionate and principled call for racial harmony cemented his commitment to civil rights and civil liberties, fueling a legal career that has included stints at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Legal Defense Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Council on Legal Education Opportunity and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

His current firm, Rosen, Bien & Galvan in San Francisco, practices both public interest law and commercial litigation. And Rosen has stayed politically active, in part via political contributions. He said he donated more to President-elect Barack Obama's campaign than all others combined. For Rosen, plunking down $12,500 for tickets to Obama's inauguration was a no-brainer.

"There was no way I'd miss this opportunity, 45 years later, to be able to hear the bookend to that 'I Have a Dream' speech," Rosen said. "Like so many others of my generation who never thought it could happen, it's an incredible celebration."

Rosen is one of many California attorneys who decided to make the cross-country trek to watch Obama put his hand on the same Bible used by Abraham Lincoln, take the oath of office and address the nation as its first black president.

Overall, crowds estimated at between 1.5 and as many as 3 million people will descend on the nation's capital for the inauguration. Tickets to the swearing in ceremony are at a premium, with just 240,000 issued. The unprecedented excitement created a run on plane tickets to and accommodations in Washington, leaving some hopefuls - literally - out in the cold.

"I made my plane reservations in early October," Rosen said. "But being as superstitious as Obama, I decided I had to visit my brother, who just happens to live in Georgetown, in mid-January."

Others were not as worried about a jinx. Dana Welch, head of Welch ADR & Training Services in San Francisco, said she bought her ticket to Washington the night of Obama's victory in the Wisconsin primary in February of last year.

"That night I was absolutely sure he'd win the [Democratic] nomination, and I was extremely optimistic the country was hungry for change," Welch said.

James Pooley, a litigator at Morrison & Foerster's Palo Alto office who founded the fund-raising group Silicon Valley Lawyers for Obama, made his arrangements nearly a year ago. Pooley said he passed up a chance to go to Woodstock in 1969 and he wasn't going to miss another once-in-a-generation event again.

"It represents such a monumental and fundamentally important change, not just in the government, but in the possibilities that government presents," Pooley said. "Being on hand to witness that kind of change seemed like a natural extension of fighting for it."

For a $50,000 contribution, the maximum allowed, Pooley received tickets to the swearing-in ceremony, the official inaugural ball for the Western states and passes to a number of other events all weekend long. Others who donated $10,000 got tickets to the ceremony and an official ball, although some are still waiting to find out which one.

Obama said he wouldn't accept corporate or lobbyist funding for his inauguration, which is expected to cost $150 million, the most expensive ever by far. Last week, President George W. Bush declared a state of emergency in Washington to obtain additional dollars to help pay for the event.

Steve Madison, a partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges in Los Angeles, said he was "kind of ambivalent" about going because of the "whole schlep factor" - securing transportation and lodging, navigating the huge crowds and dealing with the cold weather. But he was able to get four passes and decided to take his two sons, aged 11 and 12, so they might "attend a moment in history."

Madison donated $10,000 to the inauguration. He was joined in his generosity by his Quinn Emanuel partners Duane R. Lyons, who also chipped in with $10,000, and Jeffery D. McFarland, who gave $50,000.

Kenneth D. Sulzer of Seyfarth Shaw received a ticket to the inauguration by virtue of his status as a member of the Electoral College. In addition to the swearing-in ceremony, he plans to visit an event for alumni of Occidental College, where he became friends with Obama decades ago.

UC Hastings College of the Law professor Marsha Cohen said she, along with her husband, Robert P. Feyer of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, would attend an alumni brunch for Harvard Law School, Obama's alma mater.

To share the day with her daughter, Cohen recently added text messaging to her cell phone plan.

"I'm considering Twittering," Cohen said.

Jeffrey L. Bleich, the Munger, Tolles & Olson partner who co-founded Lawyers for Obama, said he is excited for the inauguration festivities, but noted that "the payoff is he'll be president."

"It will be good to be able to have a celebration that isn't fraught with tension," Bleich continued. "Every other celebration came after a long day's work. There's something different between the end of the Super Bowl and the Super Bowl parade."

robert_iafolla@dailyjournal.com

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