One of Solicitor General Elena Kagan’s assets as a potential Supreme Court nominee is said to be her collegiality across the political spectrum. That bonhomie was on full display Thursday as she heaped praise on Justice Anthony Kennedy at an award ceremony put on by Georgetown University Law Center’s Supreme Court Institute.

Kennedy was being honored by the institute for his contributions to the Court and to civil discourse at the Court and beyond. Maureen Mahoney, of counsel at Latham & Watkins, led off with praise for Kennedy’s “passion for the Constitution” and for “setting the standard for judicial temperament.”