Third Circuit Judge Barry spoke earlier this week at a D.N.J. US Attorney’s event. David Lat — managing editor at Above the Law, author of Supreme Ambitions, and confessed creator of the spunkiest legal blog ever — was there and posted this report.

The title of this post is from US Attorney Paul Fishman’s introduction of Barry; here is Lat’s account:

Judge Barry, the older sister of real estate magnate turned presidential candidate Donald Trump, is one of my favorite judicial divas. Last night, however, she was not as diva-licious or controversial as I was expecting. For example, she made no allusions to her little brother’s polarizing presidential bid. (But Paul Fishman did in introducing her: “Some people want our next president to be a woman. Some people want our next president to be a Trump. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the next president of the United States: Judge Maryanne Trump Barry!”)

In her remarks, Judge Barry emphasized themes of public service and humility. She spoke about how nervous she was when she first started work as an assistant U.S. attorney, confessing that when asked to write her first appellate brief, “I didn’t know what an appellate brief was!” At her first oral argument, during the defense counsel’s eloquent presentation, she panicked and wrote a note to her supervisor sitting next to her: “What do I say?” He advised her to get up, introduce herself, and argue that the evidence was overwhelming. When she did that, Judge John Gibbons responded by saying, “Frankly, counselor, I am underwhelmed.” It was not her finest hour.

But with hard work, and the help of a great mentor — chief of appeals John Barry, whom she later married — she got better over time. She served as chief of appeals herself, and then as first assistant U.S. attorney, before her appointment to the federal bench.

Oh, and some guy named Alito spoke, too.