Louisville Law Examiner
Volume 4, Number 4
Method of
Class Ranking
Questioned
by Shelby Lee
Over the past decade spiralling grade in­flation
has permeated the Aq1erican educa­tion
system. This trend is of particular
concern to the student from a C-curve in­stitution,
such as the University of Louis­ville
School of Law, when competing for
employment with an individual from a B­curve
school. The prospective employer
no longer is able to assess accurately a
student's performance through a consider­ation
of his grade point average (G.P.A.)
alone.
A partial solution to this has been found
in greater reliance on class rankings. As­sociate
Dean Steven R. Smith feels that
"big city employers have more of a tradi­tion
of paying attention to rank. I think
government practices would probably
follow the same pattern of placing emphasis
on class rank. One of the reasons is that
in a lot of schools there is such grade infla­tion
that you can't tell anything."
For purposes of class standings at the
U of L Law School, there are currently
two separate rankings maintained. One is
for day students, the other for evening.
Within each, students are measured against
those with a comparable number of hours:
One-28 hours, 29-56 hours, and 57-84
hours. Each graduate is gauged against
others completing law school at that time,
again divided into day and evening tables.
Dean Smith disclosed that ''There has
been some discussion of combination, but
we haven't gone to a generally combined
schedule yet. We have talked about it to
the point that we are very serious about it,
but it just has not been implemented." He
views the ranking procedure as essentially
an administrative function among the three
Deans (Wren, Lay, and Smith); however,
"as with virtually any administrative deci­sion
the faculty can override."
Several students have recently voiced
concern to the administration that before
merger is put into effect there should be
examination of consistency between day
and evening standards. As one interested
student indicated, "this is not a question
of resentment between day and night stu­dents
if consistency exists. However, day
students compete against each other for
three years; sections are changed annually
to give the day person an exposure to a
weater number of students than in the
evening division. For the most part, even­ing
students are in direct competition only
among themselves. Therefore, unless con­sistency
of all standards can be shown,
questions remain regarding the legitimacy
of merger.''
Another mentioned that "everybody is
ranked, so it affects everybody. In many
instances getting a job depends on class
rankings. To us it's our economic welfare."
In response, Dean Smith emphasized,
"if there is one law school here, why
should rankings be calculated separately
Serving The University of Louisville School of Law Community
Circulation 3800
{ .. .,~-- ... ~--
.. Agle Justus" , a lonJ bloqrass band composed mainly of law studeats, lias made regular appearances at Woody's Tavern tills faD. Tile balld -­bers
are, from left: Jeff Wade, Rick Receveur, Reggie Van Stockum, Garrett Fowles, and Chris Perkins. D. Todd Littlefield, not pictured, recently
joined the group.
regarding students with the same number
of hours? If we are running two in terms
of grading standards-and that has yet to
be discovered-it is totally unacceptable;
that is a very serious problem."
One area in which the lists have been
melded is that of scholarships. Associate
Dean Norvie Lay indicated that during the
summer the Scholarship Committee addressed
the problem of allocating scholarship
funds in the most equitable manner. "It
was the feeling of the committee that in­stead
of separate scholarships based on
being number one or number two irre­spective
of whether they had completed
this in the day or evening division." The
merger was done "for scholarship pur­poses
and scholarship purposes alone."
Dean Lay observed that "the com­mittee
felt that this treated all people the
same and alleviated all problems from
previous years. Apparently we just multi­plied
them. This really hasn't satisfied
anyone in the sense that there are separate
lists for day and night academic purposes,
and yet we combine them for purposes of
scholarships." He also stressed that "the
two divisions must not only_ be comparable
but they must offer the same quality of
legal education. The American Bar As­sociation
(ABA) requires that they be run
and treated the same. If they are not, then
we have a real problem."
"I think," Dean Lay continued, "it is a
simple question of what reflects the true
state of affairs. I want as much input
from the students as I can possibly get
before we make any determination whether
to wed the two or keep them apart. After
all, they are your grades; they are your
ranks. I would be opposed to any change
unless I knew exactly what the student
body wants. It is not for me to make that
assessment."
Students Participate on
Faculty Committees
by Sam Carl
and Susan Barnett
A system o) committees operates at the
law school through which the faculty par­ticipates
in decision-making for the school.
There is at least one student representative
on nine of these committees, and a recent
self-study report on the law school states
that this "traditional involvement of stu­dents
in the faculty deliberative process"
is one of the strengths of the school.
But, holding a vote on a committee is
not necessarily the same as having a viable
role in determining policies of the school.
Can a student representative sway faculty
members on issues before a committee"? Is
the faculty attentive to the views expressed
by the students, or are the student repre­sentatives
seen as intruders? How can a
student representative voice the "student
body'' viewpoint?
To explore these questions, we inter­viewed
some of the students who serve on
faculty committees. Not surprisingly,
experiences varied from one committee to
another.
Steve Arnett serves on four faculty com­mittees
by virtue of his office as Student
Bar Association president, and he appointed
most of the other student representatives
to committees.
In appointing students, Mr. Arnett
said, "I try to get a diversity of students,
not the same students over and over; I
might appoint students because they are
interested in certain areas. But, I tell them
they're there to voice student concerns,
not just their own views." He also said
that he tries to get a cross-section of the
student body to serve on committees, but
that it is difficult to get a proper mixture
of men and women, day and evening divi­sion
students, and so forth.
Mr. Arnett serves on the Financial Aid,
Scheduling and Building committees as
well as on the Faculty committee. (The
Faculty committee is comprised of the
entire law school faculty and its decisions
are binding on the faculty. Some other
committees are really advisory sub-com­mittees
of this larger body.) His role, he
says, is to voice the students' viewpoint, as
he perceives it.
"For example," Mr. Arnett said, "on
the Building committee, I'm lobbying for
the student facilities building. If there
weren't a student on this one, we'd have
no input at all. As it is, I'm the only per­son
on the committee who has taken the
initiative on the student facilities building."
While Mr. Arnett believes that the
faculty is interested in student views when
he pr::sents them, it appears that he feels
he has less impact on the Financial Aid
and Faculty committees than on the other
two.
"On Financial Aid, they turn to me a
lot to find out who a student is." He ques­tioned
whether he could make much dif­ference
in the decisions of that committee,
but he said, "I've tried to get the committee
to devise a system more equitable to the
students. This summer, applications came
in all summer, and we decided on them
one at a time. I got them to institute a
deadline, so all the applications are in
front of us at one time."
Louisville Law Examiner Letters To The Editor
EDITORIAL BOARD
Valerie L.Salven, Co-Editor-in-Chief
Susan Turner Barnett, Co-Editor-in-Chief
Phillip R. Warf, Associate Editor
Ginny Hamm, Business Manager
STAFF
Greg Y opp, City Editor
Bruce Dudley, Brandeis Brief Editor
Jerome A. Mirabito, Executive Editor
Pat Chism, Photographer
Gerald F. "Bear" Scbray, Artist
Jerry Adair
Frank Burnette
Sam Carl
J udge MARLIN M. VOLZ, Advisor
Shaun Esposito
· Kenneth W. Golliher
Shelby Lee
Rick Masters
Schuyler Ott
Charles Walden
Elizabeth Ward
Sherry Willman
Profe sor ALBERT T. QUICK, Consultant
The Louisville Law Examiner is published eight times during the academic year in the
interest of the University of Louisville chool of Law community. Unsigned editorial opinions
are those representing a majority vote of the editorial oard and do not necessarily express the
views of the chool of Law or the University of Louisville.
Articles are invited from faculty members, students, and members of the bar who wish to do
freelance work, but any proposed article must be cleared in advance with the editor as to topic
and length. This is to avoid duplication of coverage and insure that the article will not be
beyond workable length for a newspaper format.
Address all communications to the Louisville Law Examiner, School of Law, University of
Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky 40208. Phone 502-588-6399.
Dean Brian Hogan of the University of Leeds
School of Law, spoke at the law school on
November 8. Dean Hogan's topic was "In­sanity
as a Defense."
School of Law
History Written
You and your colleagues might find
yourselves between the covers of the
Official History of the University of
Louisville School of Law (and the Jeffer-on
School of Law) which will be released
during the upcoming year to commemorate
the groundbreaking for the school's new
wing.
Chapters will track the development of
the school from its beginnings in 1846 and
will include scandal, intrigue, war, mysLery
and sex. You'll want to reaa about ' y
Daddy's Hanging," "The Yellow Dog
Scandal," "Why We Sided With the
South," and "The Bourbon Bar Exam."
There will be something of interest for
everyone-especially the serious historian.
Over two years of scholarly research has
gone into the preparation of this book and
the manuscript is about to be completed.
If you or members of your family have
any letters, anecdotes, diaries, pictures or
other memorabilia pertaining to the
University of Louisville School of Law or
the Jefferson School of Law, please send
them to NANCY TAYLOR FRANK, c/o
P.O. Box 70118, Louisville, Kentucky 40270.
Terry McBrayer, gubernatorial candidate, addressed the law school student body on November IS,
1978. I
Dear Editors:
I commend your editorial stance con­cerning
the Rule limiting outside employ­ment
while attending the Day Division of
Law School.
I entered in the Fall Semester, 1970,
and I finished in December, 1972. During
that two and one-half years, I worked 40
hours per week for an employer whose
management was enlightened enough to
realize that as long as I could perform the
duties expected of me, it did not matter
when I did them. In other words, if Law
School did not interfere with my job, Law
School was of no concern to my employer.
Would that ABA and the Law School
Administration were now so enlightened!?!
As I recall, I graduated in the top fif­teen
percent of my class. 1 am now serv­ing
as the Barren County Attorney, in ad­dition
to maintaining my private practice.
My usual work week is 60-75 hours, and I
am sure that one of the reasons I can
handle this workload is because I learned
to plan and set priorities during my "Full
Time Law School/ Full Time Employ­ment"
experience.
Keep up the good work (no pun in­although
at times I felt like a referee
among the panelists, and between some
members of the panel and the audience.
Dear Editor,
Nancy Osborne
Chair, Women's Law Ca~cus
Issue must be taken with Jeffy Adair's in­accurate
and inexact reporting, in your
October 24th edition, of the panel discussion
that was co-sponsored by The U of L Women
in Medicine and The Women's Law Caucus.
The goal or purpose of the panel
discussion was to provide an informative
setting and an opportunity to discuss the
Jefferson County Abortion Ordinance
with various members of this community.
The panel was composed completely of
men, which was unfortunate. Nancy
Osborne served as a very capable and ex­tremely
visible moderator.
tended).
Jerry Adair reported that "at times it
(the panel discussion) verged upon
becoming an unprofessional rally for per­sonal
opinions and attacks." The au­dience,
as a group, treated the panel
members and one another with respect
and courtesy, the same behavior was not
William Thomas Klapheke II exhibited by all panel members.
Law '72 The quote that was particularly offen-
Dear Editors: sive read: "It was obvious from the eat-
On behalf of the Women's Law Caucus calls and interruptions directed to the
and other interested persons, I am pro-life speakers that the predominantly
responding to a recent article in the female audience was against the ordin­October
24th issue of the Louisville Law ance from the start." Adair's use of
Examiner entitled "Local Abortion the word catcalls indicates to me that he
Ordinance Prompts Panel Discussion." subscribes to an outdated stereo type that
The article contained some factual errors, inherently views women as back biting,
opm10ns, and misrepresentations that nail clawing beings, certainly not capable
might have raised some false images. of logical thought. In reference to the au-
The article expressly stated that the dience's philosophical makeup there were
panel consisted of all males, which is in a significant number of representatives
error since I was the panel moderator. from the pro-life block present and their
The panel was organized strictly for voices were heard in the form of questions
educational purposes (I wonder if the directed at various panel members. The
article's autrfor read tre- oTilinancer)- orr-remaining-preblem- wi-t-h-the above-quote -~
request of the Women in Medicine. The deals with the physical makeup of the au-
120-plus members of the audience dience. Given the following facts concern­represented
men and women from various ing the panel discussion: it was organized
disciplines of the University including in less than two weeks, it was sponsored
law, medicine, psychology and sociology by two professional women's groups, the
and the community in general. The audience turn out was highly predictable.
"interruptions" that did occur emanated After all who should be more concerned
from panel members, and male and with an ordinance that will legislate
female members of the audience alike and reproductive freedom than women?
were expressions of sentiments both for The women at both the medical and
and against the ordinance. law schools should be commended for
On the positive side, this was the first their joint efforts in dealing with the Jef­major
event sponsored by a law student ferson County Abortion Ordinance.
organization in conjunction with another Reporter Adair should be reminded that
professional group outside of our disci- the job of good competent reporting
pline in recent years. The general au- demands that the writer provide his
dience should be commended for their readers with accurate information and
active participation in the discussion. It descriptions of events that are void of
speaks highly of our student body that we personal bias and editorial slurs.
have so many persons interested in dis- David E. Eilers
cussing contemporary issues rather than Teacher, Jefferson County School System
merely operating in the detached environ- Mr. Adair's article should have been
ment of law school. labeled "commentary" but was not, due
Given the nature of the topic, the to an editing error. Thank you for writing.
discussion proceeded reasonably smoothly, - Ed.
An ad hoc committee of the SBA is considering establishing a student research service.
Students interested in earning money doing legal research would be matched with at­torneys
or judges needing questions researched. Advantages to students would be the
possibility of earning money while tailoring their work hours to their class schedules and
assuming as much or as little work as suprly and school/ ABA regulations permit. While
fees have not yet been determined, students will be able to earn more than most clerking
jobs offer. For attorneys, the advantage of having individual questions researched in a
library more extensive than most lawyers have access to, without the need to hire a clerk
full time, should prove worthwhile.
In attempting to assess the interest of students and of lawyers in participating in such a
program, the ad hoc committee would like you to indicate such interest by filling in name,
~ddre~s and phone numbers below and returning it to the committee. This is not an obliga­tiOn
to work or use the service, but rather a testing of interest.
Name
Address
Phone No.
Return to the SBA Office, U of L School of Law, Belknap Campus, Louisville, Ky.
40208 .
Louisville ~aw Exa~iner, N oyefll~ef 2 ~, ~ ~7~ .. . , 3 •
Students Seroe on Faculty Committees
(C~ ntinued from page I)
About the Faculty committee, Mr. Arnett
said, "I didn't know till recently that I
had a vote. It doesn't matter much any­way,
since students are outnumbered by
faculty more than 10 to one. I use the
Faculty committee to find out what's
going on, what's coming down the pike in
the future. I voice students' concerns;
sometimes it makes a difference. Since I've
been on it, they haven't voted on anything
earthshattering.''
Ken Golliher also serves on the Faculty
committee, as the at-large representative
of the student body. He was recently ap­pointed
by Mr. Arnett, but he has attended
meetings of this committee for three years.
Like Mr. Arnett, Mr. Golliher is skepti­cal
about the impact that the student rep­resentatives
have on a large faculty com­mittee.
"We start out at ground zero. I
don't think the faculty members are more
difficult to work with than any other
group. Mr. Arnett and Mr. Preston (Scott
Preston, past SBA president) are excellent
at it. I tend to be more impatient. We
probably have as much chance of getting a
program accepted as any other two members
of the 25 member committee do."
Mr. Golliher indicated that one difficulty
in swaying faculty opinion is that the
faculty members have discussed issues
among themselves prior to a meeting. He
said, "Prior to the time a question is voted
on, there is already a consensus. Hotly
debated questions don't come to a vote . ..
About all student representatives can hope
to do is add another perspective. I doubt
that there will ever be a vote on the Faculty
committee that will be decided by the votes
of the student representatives."
One difficulty Mr. Golliher has experi­enced
in representing students is that he
cannot adequately prepare for meetings
because he does not know in advance what
will be discussed.
He explained, "There has been a r~cur­ring
problem in obtaining the agenda prior
to the beginning of a meeting. However,
Dean (Harold G.) Wren has said that this
was due to an oversight on the part of his
secretary. He has assured us that we will
receive the agendas and other information
for future meetings at approximately the
same time the rest of the committee mem­bers
do."
"As an example, when the Faculty com­mittee
voted on the self-study that Dean
(Steven) Smith prepared for the ABA, we
didn't receive a copy prior to the vote. In
my opinion, the self-study made the stu­dent
body at least a partial scapegoat for
the law school's problems. I would have
voted against its adoption."
Summing up his experiences with the
Faculty committee over three years, Mr.
Golliher remarked, "Observing the faculty
at a meeting is an educational experience
in itself."
Steve Berg's experience with the Curri­culum
committee seems to have been similar
to that of the representatives on the Faculty
committee. Mr. Berg, as editor-in-chief of
the Journal of Family Law, was appointed
to the committee by the Dean. An at-large
representative, Tippy Richmond, was ap­pointed
by Mr. Arnett. The 14-member
Curriculum committee, which Mr. Berg
said meets often, makes recommendations
to the Faculty committee.
Mr. Berg said, "The votes generally go
against the position I've taken. The faculty
is attentive to what I say. Whether it makes
any difference I don't know, because
there are preconceived notions a lot, but
not always . . .I have as viable a role as
any member of the committee. I get a vote.
I get a chance to speak. They won't turn a
deaf ear to a good argument."
He continued, "The faculty is a closed
group. They discuss things among them­selves.
Then there are two interlopers. I
can't remember a close vote."
The Curriculum committee is conscien­tious,
Mr. Berg said, and !)as responded
with interest to the remarks of Chief Just­ice
Warren Burger and Kentucky Supreme
Court Chief Justice John Palmore. They
_!!lso are concerned about the recently re­leased
results of the Kentucky bar exam--=­ination.
Mr. Berg believes the committee
is receptive to what the student body thinks.
It is sometimes difficult to kriow what
view to present to the committee, Mr. Berg
explained. "I don't necessarily feel that I
am an advocate for what the student body
as a whole feels, because I'm not sure
there is one feeling. Maybe there are just
vocal minorities. I'm not going to argue
strenuously for something I disagree with."
To find out student opinions about
clinical programs, Mr. Berg conducted a
survey. He said that he will submit proposals
or questions to the Curriculum committee
when they are brought to his attention,
preferably in writing.
He commented, "Students have to tell
me what the problem is and articulate their
reasons. General complaints have no
weight. There's no reason they should
have weight."
Student participation on a faculty com­mittee
is probably most evident and maybe
most effective in the ad hoc committee
investigating the results of the bar exam­ination.
Jim Seiffert was one of three stu­dents
appointed by Mr. Arnett to this com­mittee,
which is chaired by Associate Pro­fessor
Leslie Abramson. Twelve other
students volunteered to poll students who
passed the examination. (Faculty members
called those who failed.) The committee's
work should be completed by the end of
the semester. Preliminary results were
presented to the students yesterday.
Students on the committee contributed
questions to be asked of those who took
the exam and participated in the compila­tion
of results. With regard to getting stu­dent
input, Mr. Seiffert said, "There was
no problem, especially with present seniors
who have naturally shown great interest
by inquiries and suggestions."
Student concern about the work of this
committee has been particularly high. As
Mr. Seiffert explained, "This is the first
time anything has been done to establish a
pattern of pass/ fail rates. The results
might help to influence future admissions
and curriculum changes. This should have
a positive effect in the long run."
Peggy Lyndrup serves on the other ad
hoc faculty committee. The ad hoc com­mittee
on Academic Excellence has not
met sin~e Ms. Lyndrup was appointed, so
she did not feel that she could comment on
the committee's duties or her role on the
committee. Professor Leonard Jaffee,
committee chairman, provided informa­tion
about the scope of the committee's
duties.
In a memo to Prof. Jaffee, Dean Wren
charged the committee with investigating
the level of performance of students at the
law school, comparing student perform­ance
with academic credentials upon
entrance into law school, and investigating
changes in the attitudes of the student body
during the past several years. In the same
memo, Dean Wren authorized Prof. Jaffee
to appoint the student member to the com­mittee.
Prof. Jaffee is considering discus­sing
with Dean Wren whether to appoint
an evemng division student to the com­mittee
also.
Prof. Jaffee explained, "The committee
will investigate such items as: A) grading
disparities between various professors and
the different sections, B) differences be­tween
day and night students' grades,
C) whether present grading procedure is
adequate; that is, should there be curves,
and D) overall student enthusiasm in class."
Prof. Jaffee is concerned that student
preparedness, qualitatively rather than
quantitatively, has fallen off dramatically
over the last two years. "Thus," he said,
"the committee is seeking, in general, to
find a method of grading consistently and
a way to improve student preparedness."
It will be up to Ms. Lyndrup to solicit
student opinions if she thinks that solici­tation
is important, Prof. Jaffee said.
Four students appointed by Mr. Arnett
serve on the Placement committee. One of
them, Rob~rt Russell, de~cribed the com-mittee's
activities: "Its main function is to
provide Career Night. This involves calling
prospective employers, such as law firms,
corporations and government agencies.
The committee is also in charge of giving a ·
banquet for the guest employers, which is
held on Career Night."
No future meetings of this committee
are planned. However, Mr. Russell re­marked,
"We have discussed working in
some way with the Placement Office in
the future, but no real plans have been
made. The committee and the Placement
Office work hand-in-hand. Of course,
Judge (Marlin) Volz is very involved in
our work. "
The only other faculty committee on
which students serve is the Library com­mittee.
This committee has not been active,
according to Ken Kasacavage and Lee
Hoefling, two of the three student repre­sentatives.
According to Mr. Hoefling, who was
appointed to the committee last year as
well as this year, there have been no meet­ings
of the committee in two years. The
student representatives asked Librarian
Gene Teitelbaum, who chaired the com­mittee,
to scpedule a meeting last year, but
it was never done.
Mr. Kasacavage noted that the student
members of the committee have spoken
together informally several times to identify
problems which should be directed to the
full committee. Professor Scott Thomson,
who now heads the committee, has not
resisted calling a committee meeting. In
fact, a meeting was held on Wednesday,
Nov. 15. The results of that meeting were
not available before the deadline for this
issue.
The job of the committee, according to
Mr. Kasacavage, is not to decide on ac­quisitions
but to "designate problem areas
of the library and to attain full use of the
facilities with a view toward making the
··· ······· ··· ··
library a better place for students in the
future." The strong and weak points of
the library, the limited access to restricted
areas on weekends and at night, and the
attitudinal problems of students using the
library, evidenced by their failure to re­shelve
books, are matters that he feels
ought to be discussed.
Mr. Hoefling agreed that these are the
types of problems that the cqwmittee
should be discussing. He seriously ques­tioned,
however, whether discussion would
make any difference.
Mr. Hoefling pointed out, "I'm totally
disenchanted. There's no future in it. The
committee has no binding power, as it was
explained to me. It is purely advisory. The
law librarian could ignore what the com­mittee
says. If our role is just advisory,
to some extent that has happened. That is,
we've told Mr. Teitelbaum what we think.
If there is supposed to be true involve­ment
in policy-making, I haven't seen it."
"It's Mr. Teitelbaum's library," Mr.
Hoefling continued. "Nobody can tell him
what to do with it. He can't expect us to
come into his library and obey his rules if
he never asks what we think. There will be
books on the tables, trash all around, until
students feel that it is their library. It's an
attitude problem, maybe on both sides."
Mr. Kasacavage said that students who
have questions that they would like to
bring to the attention of the Library com­mittee
should contact one of the student
representatives or use the library com­plaint
book.
There are presently no students serving
on the Admissions, Continuing Legal Edu­cation,
Development, Faculty Recruit­ment,
Personnel, and Reinstatement and
Probation committees. Mr. Arnett said
that he would like to have a student ap­pointed
to the Adrrissions committee and
to get a student involved in the panel
which rules on grievances.
ABA Inspection Team Visits
An American Bar Association inspection
team was at the School of Law from Octo­ber
25 to October 28. The members of the
inspection team were Willard D. Lorensen,
Dean of the West Virginia University Col­lege
of Law; Michael Jon Kindred, Associate
Dean of the Ohio State University College
of Law; and Ruth Wright Wilkins, Librarian
of the University of Utah College of Law.
During their visit to the school, the team
members toured the facilities and met with
the deans, faculty members, school alumni,
student representatives, and university
officials. The team also held a forum which
was open to all interested members of the
student body.
The inspection team will report their fmd­ings
to the Accreditation Committee of the
Council of the Section on Legal Education
and Admissions to the Bar of the ABA.
This report will then be considered at the
Accreditation Committee's meeting in
February 1979.
MICHIE 71ft~
BOBBS-MERRILL .
Bobbs-Merrill publishes the Official Edition of the Ken­tucky
Revised Statutes which is professionally pre­sented
in 20 permanently bound volumes reflecting
the highest standards and tradition of law book
publishing.
Its extensive and easy to use annotations, which are
read by the_ judges, were written by experienced
lawyer-editors who carefully checked every statute to
insure that all cases which have cited, applied or con­strued
that statute are annotated under the text of the
statute.
Any student who will practice law in the state of Ken­tucky
may have the entire set for no more than ten
dollars per month with no interest or carrying charge.
Similar terms are available for all attorneys:
Jim Schult~ ' ·
Sales Represent tive
821 Skylark Dr ve
Louisville, Kentuc y 40223
(502) 583-887 4 or 425-0834
•
4 Louisville Law Examiner, November 21, 1978
Faculty Engages I• n Wide Range of Legal Writing
by Elizabetb Ward
Schuyler Olt and Greg Yopp
Have you ever stopped to consider
what faculty members of a law school do
when they are not preparing for and in­structing
a class? As it turns out, quite a
few faculty members of the University of
Louisville School of Law spend a great
deal of their "extra" time doing legal
research and writing .
When presented with an open question
concerning publishing by the law faculty,
Dean Harold Wren said that law faculty
publishing is very important to the school
and that he is anxious for every member
to produce as much as possible. He added,
however, that U of L is not a "publish or
perish" school. "It's a matter of
priorities. Teaching comes first, we want
to make it the best we can. Beyond that,
we want to encourage as much creativity
as we can.''
Dean Wren went on to say that he is
very proud of the faculty's research and
writing efforts, "but that is not to say we
are satisfied. Some day we'll get to the
point where we'll be known for our
research as well as our teaching."
Following is a brief summary of cur­rent
and recent writing projects under­taken
by faculty members of University
of Louisville School of Law.
Prof. Abramson
Last May, Associate Professor Leslie
W. Abramson completed a manuscript on
criminal detainers. The manuscript is
presently untitled, but has been accepted
for publishing by both West Publishing
Company and Ballinger Books, a subsid­iary
of Harper and Row. Prof. Abramson
said he has not decided who will be the
publisher.
Prof. Abramson has also recently com­pleted
a book review of Exclusionary I
justice, by Steven R. Schlesinger. The
review is to be published in "Crime and
Delinquency" next year.
Prof. Abramson, with the help of his
research assistant Matt Livingood, is cur­rently
doing research for two more articles.
One article, according to Prof. Abram­son,
will examine about six decisions of
the Supreme Court handed down last
June that concern the Fifth Amendment
prohibition on double jeopardy. The
other project involves a review and
analysis of cases decided during the last
three years under the Speedy Trial Act of
1974.
Dean Lay
Associate Dean Norvie L. Lay has
recently completed a paper entitled
"Federal Tax Impact on Estate Planning
Affecting Land Holding." Dean Lay pre­sented
the paper to the Lincoln Institute
of Land Policy Colloquium on Federal
Taxation and Land Use at Cambridge,
Mass. Dean Lay described the gathering
as a "symposium of lawyers and econo­mists."
The paper will be published in
the proceedings of the institute, which
should be available this month.
Prof. Levy
Associate Professor Martin R. Levy is
currently writing four separate articles for
various law reviews. The articles deal
with topics ranging from the proposal of
a new statute concerned with child­napping,
to the extension of husband-wife
evidentiary privilege to unmarried
couples.
"Psychological Parentage: A Natural
Right," written with the assistance of
Jack Meunch, a graduate of the School
of Law, is slated as the lead article of an
upcoming edition of the Villanova Law
Review. The article is concerned primarily
with the removal of children from foster
homes by their natural parents. This has
been an area of slowly evolving case law,
and it is hoped that the article will pro­vide
impetus for court action.
Prof. Levy is also working with Debbie
Zegart on an article about child-napping
by parents out of custody. The article
proposes a new uniform statute which
makes child-napping analagous to a
charge of possession of stolen goods. The
article is entitled, "Child-Napping: A
Continuous Offense" and will be submit­ted
to the Family Law Quarterly.
Prof. Levy's third article, "Juvenile
Waiver of Miranda Rights," will be pub­lished
in the Pepperdine Law Journal.
The article was written with the help of
William Danner and Larry Phillips. It
deals with the waiver of Miranda rights
by juveniles, arguing that there should be
no waiver of such rights without consulta­tion
with an adult or counsel.
"Extending the Husband-Wife Eviden­tiary
Privilege to Unmarried Couples" is
to be published by the Family Law
Quarterly. Mike Morris is aiding Prof.
Levy on the project.
Prof. Levy characterizes his work as
being "a creative type law reform with
little compilation,'' and says he works
"when the ideas come."
Prof. Volz
Professor Marlin Volz is co-author and
General Editor of Volumes 8 and 9 of
West's Federal Practice Manual. These
two volumes, along with Volume 10, will
be published by West in 1979. Prof. Volz
is also currently completing the rewriting
of Volume 7 of West's Federal Practice
Manual, which will also be published in
1979.
Prof. Volz is co-author of Peterson,
Rossmiller & Volz, The Law and Public
School Operation, and the edition which
was published by Harper and Row earlier
this year.
In addition to these efforts, Prof. Volz
has contributed a chapter on "Health and
Medical Issues in Arbitration" for a book
to be published by the Bureau of National
Affairs, completed a 250 page manuscript
on Kentucky probate practice to be
published by Banks-Baldwin, and has
written a chapter on the smaU claims divi­sion
· of the Kentucky district courts which
will be included in a volume to be
published by Banks-Baldwin in late 1978
or early 1979.
Prof. Read
Professor William Read has written a
750-page manuscript called Corporate Of­ficers
and Directors~ Deskbook with
Model Documents, Agreements, and Forms.
It is currently being published by
Prentice-Hall and will be available in the
spring of next year for $40. Prentice-Hall
asked Prof. Read to write this book for
use with their textbook to promote
understanding in the field of corpora­tions.
The books are also intended for use
by officers and directors of business
organizations preparing to make legal and
ethical decisions.
The manuscript is written in a practical
form and has no footnotes. It includes
model documents and appendices, and a
checklist at the end of each chapter to
permit self-evaluation and provide an easy
reference. ·
The book is an outgrowth of Prof.
Read's teaching in corporations and
business torts. Prof. Read stated that the
profits he received from his writing are
not all monetary:
"The percentage I receive from the
sales is not as important. .. I wanted to
get down on paper what I've learned of
the various experiences I've had, and to
sharpen my own thinking. The writing
was profitable because of the satisfaction
I've gotten. Things we care about, we do
because we want to, not for the money.
It's a happy situation where you can en­joy
what you're doing and get money for
it · " Prof. Warns
Professor Carl Warns and his research
assistant, Anne Payne, are ~urrently co­authoring
an article for the Kentucky
Law Journal on the role of boards of in­quiry
in national emergency dispute settle­ments.
The article is about half completed
and should be published sometime next
year.
Earlier this year, President Carter named
Prof. Warns to the three-member board
of inquiry to advise him about invoking
the Taft-Hartley~ Act to end the coal
strike. When the strike was over, Prof.
Warns said that UK contacted him about
doing this specific article because of his
"having been intimately involved."
In the article, Prof. Warns stresses that
some revision in the role of the board of
inquiry is necessary, indicating they
should be "brought up to date in light of
our development in this area."
Prof. Petrilli
Professor Ralph S. Petrilli is currently
completing a manuscript for a volume to be
called Tax Aspects of Divorce Settle-ments.
Prof. Petrilli is doing half of the
volume on the income tax aspect of the
divorce settlement and Professor Wenig,
· a law professor at St. John's University
in New York, is preparing half of the
volume on transfer of property, com­munity
property and various other
aspects. The completed volume will be
part of a set to be published by West
Publishing Company. Prof. Volz is the
overall editor of the set.
Prof. Petrilli has also recently com­pleted
his 1977 supplement to his book,
Kentucky Family Law. The Family Law
book was written before the no-fault
dissolution statute, and the latest supple­ment
discusses the statute and its affects
on family law. "I'm pleased with its
reception," said Prof. Petrilli. "It was
the first academic critical analysis of the
no-fault statute; the one place lawyers
could look in Kentucky (for guidance).''
When asked about writing in general,
Prof. Petrilli replied, "You make time if
you are going to write a book. We are en­couraged
to write with the suggestion that
it is part of our professional responsibility
to do some writing of some sort. A cer­tain
indirect pressure is there but not
'publish or 'perish.' You simply decide to
write something and fit it in, an hour
here and there, in between classes."
"You get royalties, but royalties are
generally small unless the book hits the
national market, becomes a best seller.
Royalties aren't large enough to say
you'd write for the money. I write partly
for the money ... for status in the profes­sion,
and as part of my professional
responsibility to become known. But pri­marily
(I write) to increase the quality
of the school and its image through the
nation."
Parking Refunds
December graduates and other students
who do not return for the spring semester
can get a $10.00 refund on parking stickers
which were purchased this fall.
To get the refund, scrape the sticker off
the car and take the pieces to the office of
the U of L Department of Public Safety.
Make note of the sticker number before
scraping it off.
Requests for refunds will be taken be­tween
Dec. I, 1978 and Jan. 15, 1979.
Refunds will be returned by mail.
BALSAS Bakke Seminar
Panel discusses impact of decision on school admission unn:t,uur·r~.
From left to right: Dean Harold G. Wren; Prof. Albert T. Quick; Mr.
Gerald Neal; Ms.
and Prof. Martin Levy. Not Pictured: Panel member Mr. MacArthur Darby.
Louisville Law Examiner, November 21, 1978 5
Aquatic Excellence via Socratic Method
by Charles Walden
(The following is a fair transcription of a
Law Examiner Staff interview conducted at
pool side with world famous swimming
coach Socraticus Oblique Blackrock who
gave up law professing 10 years ago to test
his theory that probing questions can be used
to teach even basic physical skills. He calls
his approach the "Socratic Method." The
interview is edited only for length.)
EXAMINER STAFF QUESTION
(ESQ): Tell us, coach, is that a life jacket
you're wearing?
SOCRATICUS OBLIQUE BLACK­ROCK
(SOB): That question is both irrele­vant
and time consuming. We have more
important things to talk about.
ESQ: But is it true that you teach swim­ming
but can't swim?
SOB: Please. If you must pursue that
line of questioning see me after class. It is
enough to say that one need not necessarily
have to be able to swim to teach s·wimming.
One need never have swum. One need
know only how to teach. I know how to
teach. I search only for that student who
can learn as I teach. . . ·
ESQ: Thank you. Is this a new class you
have here?
SOB: If you mean the word "this" to
describe the group of young men and
women around the pool, then I have them
here. If you mean the word "new" to
describe the relative inexperience with the
Socratic Method the "this" you referred to
has, then "new" is a proper modifier. If
you use the word "class" to mean some
organized association dedicated to a single
purpose-that of learning to swim then I
might (note that I said might rather than
hall or would) argue that each may think
that is why he or she is here, and in that
meaning each taken together is a class. But,
as each he and she will soon discover under
my probing questions, each is an individual
subject to individual fears, frailties,
flatulence, and each will fail or succeed as
an individual with .. .
ESQ: Are you trying to say yes?
SOB: That's a good question, but you
should perhaps ask ...
ESQ: Please explain your basic Socratic
Method for teaching swimming.
SOB: It is quite simple. I seek out in­dividuals
who each believe that he or she
wants to swim, who each believe that he or
she is capable of learning to swim and who
each place his or her faith in my abilities to
teach each to swim. Given these factors, I
simply place each individual in a situation
where he or she must swim or sink. Or is
that sink or swim? No matter. ..
News-in-Brief
The Editorial Board of the Journal of
Family Law has elected the following
students to Staff Editor positions: J.
Michael Jarboe and John McCarty, Assist­ant
Notes Editors; Jerome A. Mirabito,
Assistant Recent Cases Editor; and Jen­nifer
M. Payton, Assistant Articles Editor.
The School of Law will conduct a tele­thon
to raise money for the school during
the week after Thanksgiving. A group of 12
"captains" have begun to recruit callers,
including students, to contact U of L
School of Law alumni across the country.
Donors will be able to designate money to
be used for specific purposes; otherwise,
donations will go into a fund to be used at
the dean's discretion. University officials
have assured the law school· that these
donations will not result in a reduction of
funds given to the School of Law from
general university sources, Dean Harold G.
Wren said.
good. Now, let's swim. First, I want you to
take a deep breath. That's good, Holmes.
But do you think it might be more effective
to breathe with your head above water? Let
me restate your problem. You are approx­imately
five-feet-ten-inches tall. The water
is 10 feet deep. You are now lying"'on the
bottom of the pool with the air approxi­mately
nine-and-one-half feet above where
your head wobbles on the current. Can you
think of any way to get closer to the air?
That's correct. Now that you are standing
on the bottom, how far do you think you
are from air? A little more than four feet, I
believe would be more exact, Mr. Holmes.
Good kick, Holmes, very good. You
almost made it. Ms. Fegenbush? Is Ms.
Fegenbush here?
Voice: I'm not prepared.
SOB: (growing weary) Is anyone
prepared?
Voice: Me. I am. I cando.it.
SOB: Well, okay.
Splash! splash! splash!. .. etc.
SOB: Very good. See class. See Law Exam­iner
Staff Questioners. See how well in­dividuals
can learn by examining the ten­tative
efforts of others and by each ques­tioning
his or her self under my guidance
cut to the very essence of swimming. You,
in the water, you may give me your name
after class for extra credit. ,. (
( ' ' ) ' ) ) ) Voice: It's Spitz, sir. Mark Spitz.
il
ESQ: Maybe you could show us before it
gets dark.
SOB: That's the beauty of my system. It
makes no difference whether it is day or
night so long as each individual can hear
my voice, respond to my questions ...
ESQ: Maybe you could show us before
the Johnny Carson Show.
SOB: Certainly. Smith. Is Smith here?
Gooct". Jump.
Voice from darkness: I'm sorry. I don't
think I'm prepared.
SOB: You mean, don't you Smith, that
you will not learn to swim? Cartwright.
Splash!
SOB: Very good, Cartwright. Now that
you are over your head in 10 feet of water,
what do you think you should do next?
Cartwright: Don't make waves.
SOB: Wrong. That would be a proper
answer if you were on your tiptoes and chin
deep in a urinal. You are over your head in
10 feet of clean, chlorinated water. Carter.
Is Carter here?
Splash!
SOB: Very good, Carter.
Holmes: I'm not Carter. I'm Holmes.
Some bastard pushed me.
SOB: Perhaps you should be more in­terested
in the immediate problem than in
your particular identity crisis. Names, after
all, are only labels. Tell me, person labeled
Holmes, what do you think you should do
next?
Holmes: Kill the bastard who pushed me
in.
SOB: That might do as a long range ob­jective,
Holmes. But how do you propose
to kill this individual you allege is a bastard
while you are over your head in 10 feet of
water; you cag't swim; and your unnamed
adversary is quite safe and standing here on
concrete five feet from the water's edge?
Holmes: It was you, you SOB. You
pushed me.
SOB: Very good, Holmes. Very, very
SOB: Very good, Spitz. But don't you
think you should kick your legs separately
and move your arms kind of like you are
crawling instead of lurching out like that
with both arms at the same time?
ESQ: Excuse me, coach. But wouldn't
you consider this something of a disaster?
At least two of your young students have
drowned during the first session, and most
of the others are either sobbing outright or
cringing behind the beach balls.
SOB: I know what you're talking about.
I've run into that survival rate S) home
before. But I'll tell you one thing f, sure.
Those who learn to swim by the S" ... ratic .
Method know how to swim. That's a
perfect syllogism. Just look at that Spritz
go, even if he is moving his arms wrong
and kicking with his legs together like some
dolphin. At least he's learned to breathe in
the water, and that is very important.
ESQ: But he is an Olympic champion.
He won seven gold medals for swimming at
the 1972 Olympics.
SOB: I believe that proves my point.
And as further proof I would suggest. ..
Splash!
And thus concludes an exclusive ESQ in­terview
with Coach Blackrock bobbing off
into the sunrise, his life jacket tucked ever
so comfortably under his chinny-chin-chin.
WOODY'S TAVERN
&ALE GARDEN
brook & burnett
~ J.JJI'. ~~ ~" ~/ ~WOOD'(
•
•
6 Loui ille _t~w' Exami nh;N ove'mber'21, :i978 '' ;, i
Committee Studies Bar Results
A special ad hoc commitee has been
established at the School of Law to analyze
the performance of U of L graduates on the
July 1978 Kentucky Bar Examination. The
failure rate for U of L graduates on the July
1978 examination was 30 percent, the highest
failure rate in recent years for U of L
graduates and the highest failure rate
among the state's three law schools on the
most recent examination.
The chairman of the committee is
Associate Professor Leslie W. Abramson.
Other members of the committee are
Associate Professor Albert T. Quick,
Associate Dean Steven R. Smith, second­year
students Bruce Dudley and Jim Seif­fert,
and third-year student Scott Preston.
Prof. Abramson said that the short-term
goal of the committee is to give U of L
students who plan to take the February exam­ination
"as clear an indication as possible
what they should and should not do" to
prepare for the examination.
Beyond that, the committee hopes to
arrive at some conclusions based on data
they are currently compiling and to recom­mend
changes, if appropriate, to the faculty
concerning the admissions process and/
or legal education process at the School of
Law, according to Prof. Abramson.
A group of about a dozen second- and
third-year students are assisting the com­mittee
by placing telephone calls to U of L
School of Law graduates who took the J uly
examination and asking the graduates
questions about their preparation for the
~am, the number of hours per week they
worked in outside employment both during
school and prior to taking the exam, how
well their education at the School of Law
prepared them for the exam, and what they
found to be surprising about the exam.
The committee hopes to draw correla­tions
between the responses of the ap­plicants
and their performance on the bar
examination. The conclusions reached by
the committee will be reported in the Exam­iner
next semester as soon as they are made
available.
Any U of L graduate who took the July
bar examination but has not yet been con­tacted
by the committee is requested to con­tact
Prof. Abramson at the School of Law.
Office telephone: (502) 588-6385.
Counseling Center Service
Rarely Used by Law Students
by Rick Masters or wives seem to place studies first on their
list of priorities." He went on to say that,
Although the University of Louisville "The divorce rate in graduate school is
maintains a free comprehensive counsel- unusually high."
ing facility staffed by a clinical psycholo- Due to the high concentration of prob-gist,
two Ph.D. psychologists and two !ems in this area the Counseling Center of-psychiatrists,
law students in general have fers a variety of pre-marital and marital
not taken advantage of its program. counseling. programs for individuals as well
According to Michael Meuler, a clinical as couples, who are married or seriously
psychologist at the Counseling Center, over dating, with advice directed toward learn­a
recent three-year periocl fewer than 10 ing_how to cope-.with..the inevitable adjust=
law students have made use of the variety ment problems which arise. A program
of services offered. In contrast, during the along these lines was presented by the
same period over twice as many dental stu- Counseling Center staff to law student
dents and more than one hundred medical spouses earlier in the semester.
students visited the Center. Mr. Meuler Since final exams are just around the
cited several possible reasons to explain corner, I asked Mr. Meuler for some
this difference as well as the relatively general information concerning the avoid­moderate
use of the facility by under- ance of test anxiety. He commented that
graduates. He stated that, "The rather an important goal in preparing to taken an
strict religious backgrounds of many area examination is relaxation and anxiety
students are incompatible, in their minds, control. He says these are learned skills
with the whole idea of psychological like any others and that with practice one
counseling, at least on the surface." He can improve his/her ability. Mr. Meuler
said, "Many students have the mistaken says that many students approach exams
view of the psychotherapist as one who ad- telling themselves that they won't know
vises you to do everything your religious the answers and won't be able to respond
convictions tell you not to do. • • when they take the exams, and sure enough,
Another factor which perhaps accounts they react just as planned. He emphasizes,
for the majority of decisions not to use the "We must realize that it is not the stress
counseling services cited by Mr. Meuler is which is the problem, but our reaction to
the basic misconception most people still it."
seem to hold about the nature of psycho- The Counseling Center is located at 2207
logical counseling. Mr. Meuler said he South Brook Street next to the University
thinks, "Many students believe you have to Post Office. It is open Monday through
be a nut to seek counseling." Friday from 8: 30a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with
Mr. Meuler stated that the Counseling after-hours emergency service available by
Center has made extensive use of the calling 555-61 11.
media, including radio and television ads,
in efforts to encourage student participa­tion,
all with little success. He went on to
say that occasionally the Center has been
" overcrowded" with regard to certain pro­grams,
but that such heavy usage is sporadic.
For instance, it is very difficult for the
Center to arouse much student interest in a
U of L Alumni
Salutes Law School
byGregYopp
test anxiety control group in the early part The University of Louisville Alumni
of the semester, but interest increases with Association will be saluting the School of
the realization of the inevitable. Law and its alumni during the University
When asked about the primary types of of Louisville v. Idaho basketball game on
problems for which law students sought help December 9. The game is set for 8:00p.m.
from the Counseling Center, Mr. Meuler at Freedom Hall.
replied that he couldn't get too specific, for Ron Saunders of the University's Alumni
fear of violating the strict confidentiality Services Office said this is a new program
maintained with regard to all students who that "will provide visibility for the
visit the Center. However, he did point out School." Highlights of the salute include a
that law students, like the majority of reception before the game for key figures in
·graduate students, experience most of their the Alumni Association, an article concern­difficulties
in the area of marital problems. ing the School of Law in the game program,
He said, "Usuall}::.the.~Oll&eS .of g.raquat.e _ ;~n,d .. a radio. interview with Dean Harold
students feel cheated because the husbands Wren at half-time.
Summer 1978 Bar Results
People Taking Number Percentage
Bar Exam Passing Passing
University of Louisville
School of Law 116 82 70
Salmon P. Chase
College of Law 86 66 76
University of Kentucky
College of Law 99 85 85
Out of State
Law Schools 54 44 81
TOTALS
355 277 78
U of L Graduates
Admitted to the Bar
Stuart Edgar Alexander, III
Larry Ray Anderson
Robert Gates Bardin
David Alvin Bell
Gary Allen Benford
Bennett Lee Bertoli
Michael Lee Boylan
Robert Joseph Brand
Bonnie Maryetta Brown
Gary Wayne Brown
William Rodes Brown
Christopher Duncan Bryant
Kathryn Burke
John Gregory Burton
Richard N. Bush
Lynn Marie Bynum
David Larkin Chenault
Vivian S. Clingenpeel
Travis Lee Cochran
Dennis Joseph Conniff
Jeffrey Paul Consolo
Donald Wesley Cottrell
Elgin Lewis Crull
Kathleen Cunningham
Gus G. Daleure, Jr.
Mark Wesley Dobbins
Steven Douglas Downey
Mary Camille Erwin
Thomas E. Ewen
John Reed Fendley
Daniel Richard Fuller
David Randall Gibson
Thomas Larkin Gilmore
Guy Mil wee Graves
Bruce Patrick Hackett
Julia Peters Hagan
Evelyn S. Harris
Charles Thomas Hectus
Douglas Craig Holland
Cheryl S. Karp
Marshall F. Kaufman, III
JAMES P. QUEENAN
2509 Savannah Road
Louisville, KY 40222
(502) 425-2174
THE LAWYERS
CO-OPERATIVE
PUBLISHING COMPANY
II II LCp
Daniel Carroll Kelly, III
David Randall Kemplin
William David Kiser
Robert Mark Klein
Susan S. Krutzler
Robert Ashton Lee
Edwin C. Lester
Marcia Louise MacHarg
Raymond Dale McCall
Joseph G. McCauley
Bryan Scott McCoy
Mary Alice Maple
Mark Louis Miller
Allen Lloyd Morris
Thomas Arnold Mulhall
Charles S. Musson
Joseph F. Neary
William Kenneth Nevitt
James David Niehaus
John Douglas Nunn
Dorothy Elder O'Brien
William P. O'Brien
Ruth Gibson Oliphant
Theodore Michael Pappas
Anne Tilford Payne
Kenneth Craig Plotnik
Tommy David Price
Constance Elaine Rev lett
William Brent Rice
Christopher Peel Rivers
Dennis Howard Shaw
Richard Howard Shuster
Ronald Steven Smith
William Kevin Smith
Arthur J . Steil berg, J r.
Patricia Gail Walker
HalM. Warheim
Michael Dawson Warren
Virginia C. Whittinghill
Stephen Read Zollner
Drafting
Pleadings
AM JUR PLEADING AND PRAC·
TICE FORMS, Revised. Here are
model practice forms for every
stage of a proceeding, from pre­trial
through jury instruction to ap­peal.
The forms - over 27,000 of
them - are grouped under 361
modern legal topics. A fact-word
index in each volume and a
General Index provide exhaustive
indexing for the entire set. .. so
you can find the right form in
minutes.
0 forms carefully selected from
court records and the files of
qualified practitioners in every
jurisdiction
0 concise text statements of
governing legal principles.
0 hundreds of jury instructions
0 references to pertinent local
statutes and procedural rules
Loui~>ville Law E"iaminer, November 21, l978. 1 7 ;
Diploma Privilege Recognized
by Susan Barnett
To all of you who are looking with dread
at the impending bar exam, to all of you
who are worried because of the failure
rate on the last Kentucky bar, to all of you
who have said at least once, "I hope I can
learn something about that in the bar re­view,"
here's a cheery thought:
There are states that do not require a
bar examination for admission to the
practice of law.
Unfortunately, Kentucky is not one of
them. either is Indiana.
In fact, there are only five states that
have a "diploma privilege" or a waiver of
the bar exam for law school graduates.
They are Mississippi, Montana, South
Dakota, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
Before you rent a U-Haul and head
out for the state of your choice, consider
the hitch to this deal.
You're going to have to take law school
o er again to be able to qualify for the
diploma privilege.
~ orth it? You be the judge. It ought to
be less hassle the second time. You've al­ready
got outlines, from someone.
The five states which have a diploma
privilege limit it to graduates of schools
within their borders. The choices are Uni­versity
of Mississippi, University of Mon­tana
at MissOllla, University of South
Dakota, West Virginia University or any
law school in Wisconsin which is accredi­tated
by the American Bar Association at
the time of graduation.
In four of the states, the diploma is all
you will need to satisfy the educational re­quirement
for admission. But, in Wiscon­sin
there eems to be some feeling that
the~e are certain things a lawyer should
no". The tatute there spell out certain
subjects which must be completed success­fully
and others which may be included.
e t onsm tatute al o allows a law
school to require practical training as a
prerequisite to certification for admission
on the diploma privilege.
Imagine giving a law school the power
to require it graduates to know how to
practice Ia before being admitted to
practice!
By the way, waiver of the bar exam does
not include waiver of the requirement of
good moral character.
In 1890, 16 states had a diploma pri­vilege.
But these five states are not just
stubbornly hanging on to a si'mpler time.
In fact, South Dakota first adopted its
dioloma privilege in 1973.
That the wisdom of using the bar exam
as the criterion for admission to practice
is still in question was displayed this sum­mer
in New York City at a meeting of the
Law Student Division of the American
Bar Association. At that meeting there
was a panel discussion entitled, "The
Future of the Bar Examination."
All the panelists, who were law school
professors, deans or bar examiners, agreed
that the exam had a future. Not everyone
agreed that's good.
Basically, these were the arguments
against the bar examination:
First, there is a direct relation between
performance in law school and perform­ance
on the bar. The bar is therefore es­sentially
redundant. If law schools will
crack down on students, only those who
are qualified to be admitted to the bar will
graduate.
If that's too much to swallow, a com­promise
position was suggested. Let the
top 50 percent of the class have a diploma
privilege. One professor indicated it would
be refreshing to see students coming to
class again, prepared, competing for the
top 50 percent ranking.
Second, the bar exam is designed and
graded in many states by people who know
nothing about testing.
Third, related to the first argument,
the same can be accomplished in a fairer
and less burdensome way. More can be
required of the law schools through ac­creditation
requirements, which will assure
qualified graduates.
And fourth, the bar exam is an inexcus­able,
high-pressure "hazing of the pledges"
which proves nothing. Also, illness or
other temporary condition might cause
failure.
The majority, to no one's surprise or
pleasure, favored the bar exam. Here are
the a_rguments:
Danny Karem, member of the CONTRABAND, running with the football during a recent graduate
league intramural football game. The league championship was won by the FORECLOSURES,
another law school team captained by Norm "Stormin' Norman" Roelke.
Alumni Plan Trip to Game
The Alumni Association of the School of
Law is planning a bus trip to Cincinnati for
the University of Louisville v. Cincinnati
basketball game on January 18, 1979. Two
chartered coaches will leave Fairgrounds
Stadium about 2:30 p.m. The cost per per­son
is $19.00 which includes transporta­tion,
game ticket, and dinner at Stouffer's
in downtown Cincinnati. There will be a
cocktail reception with cash bar at 5:00
p.m., dinner at 6, and the game starts at
8:00. The buses will return to Louisville
following the game. _
To make reservations for the trip to Cin­cinnati,
contact Kathy Carpenter at the .
University's Alumni Services Office, (502)
588-6186. Reservations must be made by
January 8.
The Kentucky Department of Education rec:;;; ~ponsored a seminar on Law-Related Education in
which U of L law school students assisted. Mark Sullivan is shown here directing a mock trial. Also
participating was Alphonso O'Neill-White.
First, the profession requires certain
minimum standards of its participants
that law schools may not require. The
focus of the law schools is different from
that of the profession. Not all law schools
are the same. The profession· is also con­cerned
that law graduates be able to as­similate
all the small parts they have
learned into the whole called legal think­ing.
Second, to tell the law schools how to
run their businesses is an infringement on
academic freedom. No one can force a
torts professor to teach assumption of
risk if he thinks it's not important. But
the bar wants to be sure that its members
know about the doctrine.
Third (developed from the second), the
bar exam, when well-designed, will be a
learning experience. Try very hard to re­member
that!
Finally, there is nothing wrong with
pressure. The bar exam is less pressure
than the actual practice of law.
Of course, if you don't pass the bar
you'll never know whether that's true.
But don't think about that. Think of all
the education you are getting because you
are allowed to take a bar exam.
Of course, the reason we have a bar
exam in Kentucky may be a little differ­ent.
In 1968, a bill was introduced in the
House which would have abolished the bar
exam for UK and U of L law graduates.
The bill, H.B. 169, was introduced by
Rep. Will K. Peace (R.-Williamsburg),
who was acting in behalf of a veteran who
had graduated from UK in 1966 and twice
failed the bar.·
As reported at the time in the U of L
law school newspaper, The Louisville
Lawyer, H.B. 169 was tabled by the "voices
of reaction and fear." The House re­jected
an argument by Speaker Pro Tem­pore
Terry McBrayer (D.-Greenup) that
law professors, after three years of ob­serving
the student, have a better founda­tion
on which to judge who is qualified to
practice law than bar examiners can get in
a few days of testing.
Maybe distrust of law professors was at
work! One report in The Louisville Lawyer ·
seemed to think so. (Admittedly, the report
was written by a student. The other article
in the issue on the subject, written by·
Dean James Merritt, did not mention this_
as a reason for the bill's failure. Choose
your own authority.)
In the story headed "Commie Plot
Beaten," the newspaper quoted a declara­tion
of Rep. I.C. James (D.-Harrodsburg),
who said, "As long as these professors
are a bunch of Communists and counsel
our students to break the laws of our great
country, we don't want them deciding who
our lawyers are going to be."
We all know- that the reference is not to
U of L professors. U of L has an out­standing
faculty, according to a study re­cently
approved by the faculty.
Rep. James apparently referred to a UK
law professor who had been counseling
draft-eligible men on their legal rights.
Now that really gives you something to
think about while you ponder the impend­ing
doom.
The Key Number System
takes you from one
case in any law book
to all cases in point
Take a cited opinion . Check the Table of Cases in your
Key Number Digest. There you'll find the Key Number
that classifies that case and all others in point. And this
method works even when you begin with cases from
books not based on the Key Number System. That's
one way the compatible Key Number System makes
your library more valuable, more useful. Find out how
you can put it to work too, today.
0. K. CURRY, JR.
B. S. University of Kentucky
J. D. University of Kentucky
WEST PUBLISHING COMPANY
Sales Representative
Phone: 502/584/5058
•
8 Louisville Law Examiner, November 21, 1978
Edwin 0. Davis Awards
Honor Top Scholars
by Valerie Salven
Mrs. Edwin 0 . Davis remembers her
husband as a man who was "always inter­ested
in young people, as students, putting
out so much effort to become attorneys."
After Edwin 0. Davis died of a stroke in
1972, Mrs. Davis and daughter, Lisa Davis
Egger, decided that giving an award each
year to students who excel in the classroom
while at the School of Law would be an
appropriate way to memorialize Mr. Davis
and his concern for law students.
In 1974 the Edwin 0. Davis awards were
established, and as a result the valedic­torian
and salutatorian of each graduating
class of the School of Law now receive
$100 and $50 respectively, in recognition of
their scholastic achievement.
Edwin 0. Davis was born on April 1,
1913, in Paducah, Kentucky. His father
was the owner of a hosiery mill in Paducah,
and was credited with the invention of a
device called the "Hepworth Looper."
(The "Hepworth Looper'.' turned the heel
in stockings mechanically; this job formerly
had to be done by hand.)
After graduation from Paducah
Tilghman High School, Mr. Davis worked
as a commercial artist in Louisville until
the flood of 1937 destroyed his office. At
that point, he decided that he might as well
pursue his ambition to become an attorney,
and he enrolled in the Jefferson School of
Law.
Mr. Davis continued to maintain a
substantial work schedule while he was in
law school, and worked as an engineer for
the Work Progress Administration (WPA)
during his first year of law school. He passed
the bar examination during his second year
of law school (students were permitted to
take the bar examination prior to gradua­tion
at that time), and he then began tak­ing
on legal work and research from other
attorneys.
The following year, 1940, he graduated
Cum Laude from the Jefferson School of
Law and went into private practice in the
law offices of Edward J. Hogan.
In 1944, he entered into a partnership
with two brothers, Leland M. Mahan and
Armer H. Mahan, under the firm name of
Mahan, Davis and Mahan. Mr. Davis also
taught the subjects of insurance and torts
at the Jefferson School of Law until it
merged with the University of Louisville
School of Law in 1950.
Mr. Davis continued his practice in the
firm of Mahan, Davis and Mahan, special­izing
in civil trial work. He was asked to
become a fellow of the American College
of Trial Attorneys in 1965.
The firm name was changed to Davis and
Mahan after Leland's death in 1953, and
the firm continues under that name today.
Mr. Davis married Mary Handlin Duely
in 1941. Mrs. Davis described her husband
as someone who was "always busy." He
read extensively, she said, and accumulated
a sizeable library in their home.
When he left his law office, Mr. Davis
pursued a number of interests. He taught
himself woodworking, Mrs. Davis said,
and made many pieces of furniture- in­cluding
desks, chairs, sofas and chests­for
their Jefferscn County home. He also
designed and worked on most of the in­terior
of their home.
Photography was another hobby that in­terested
Mr. Davis, and his photographs
could be found on display throughout his
house.
Mr. Davis' sister, the present Mrs.
Ernest F. Turnbow, still lives in Louisville,
as do his daughter and Mrs. Davis.
The Edwin 0 . Davis Awards, Mrs. Davis
said, were established as a way to
"recognize excellence," and to gjve
recognition to students who "worked so
hard and accomplished so much."
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Nov.17-18 Continuing Legal Education: University of Kentucky
College of Law; Law Office Management.
Nov. 23-26 Thanksgiving Holiday
Dec. 1 Continuing Legal Education: University of Louisville
School of Law; Federal Wage and Hour-Unemployment
Compensation, The Galt House, Louisville, 9:00a.m. to
5:30p.m.
Dec. 2-15 Examination Period
Dec. 8 Continuing Legal Education: University of Louisville
School of Law; Twenty-First Annual Tax Institute
Dec. 8 Continuing Legal Education: University of Louisville
School of Law; Right to Speedy Trial and Prosecuting and
Defending Drug Cases, The Galt House, Louisville, 9:00
a.m. to 5:30p.m.
Dec. 15-16 Continuing Legal Education: University of Kentucky
College of Law; Domestic Relations.
Louisville Law Examiner
School of Law
University of Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky 40208
j
.... v
!5
0
John M. Harlan Louis D. Brandeis
Louisville
Law Examiner
Volume 4
umber 4
ovember 21, 1978
Class Rankings
cause
confusion
.. . page 1
Learn to
Swim by the
Socratic Method
.. . page 5
The annual Uni­versity
of Louis­ville
School of Law
"Career Night"
was held at the
School of Law
this year on Wed­nesday,
October
18. Over 45 rep­resentatives
of
private law firms,
banks, corpora­tions
and govern­ment
agencies
visited the School
of Law to talk to
students about the
job opportunities
in their respective
areas of speciali­zation.
At right,
Ferd Lotz dis­cusses
job oppor­tunities
with the
Internal Revenue
Service.