Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer gave an insider's view of the day-to-day workings of the United States' highest court on Friday at the Harvard Law School.

Audience members packed the aisles and spilled over into the hallway outside the Vorenberg room to hear Breyer, a 1964 HLS graduate and former faculty member, give the last Saturday School lecture of the millennium.

Breyer, who was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals in 1980 and then to the Supreme Court in 1994 as President Clinton's second appointee, reminded his listeners of the Supreme Court's role within the judicial system.

"The first thing you forget when you read the newspapers is that almost all law in the United States is state law," he said. "If you want to make a difference in people's lives, please don't all run to Washington."

Contrary to common belief, the true power of the court lies in its finality and ability to create legal conformity across the nation, Breyer said.

"As we see it, our job primarily is to decide cases of federal law where there is need for a national uniform rule," Breyer said. "That is what we can do that others can't."

Breyer went on to describe the process of the Supreme Court itself and his role within it. Of the approximately 7,500 cases that arrive at the Court each year, the justices will hear only around 100.An important part of the work of the court lies in deciding which cases are worthy enough to merit a hearing.

However, Breyer said, it is hard to go wrong in denying a case. "The issue either comes back in another case or it doesn't," he said. "And if it was an important issue that we should have decided, it will be back."