Louisville Law Examiner
Volume 4 Number 6
Student Legal
Research Group
Is Established
For some 30 years the School of Law of­fered
a research and writing service to Ken­tucky
attorneys. In the early 1960's, the
formation of the Journal of Family Law
and a decreasing enrollment lec,l to the ter­mination
of the program. This year, how­ever,
interest in a similar organization has
begun to spread.
S.B.A. President Steve .Arnett has spear­headed
the revival of the program. Entitled
the Student Legal Research Group, the pro­gram
is presently in the planning stages.
Professor Leslie W. Abramson, the faculty
advisor, and Bruce K. Dudley, the student
director, have also been instrumental in the
program's development.
The group's primary purpose is to pro­vide
low-cost research assistance to Ken­tucky
Bar Association members. Lawyers
should be especially receptive to the
group's services because of the researchers'
access to the law library's extensive collec­tion
of legal materials. Of utmost import­ance
to the law school, however, is the
research and writing experience the stu­dents
will derive from the program.
Kentucky attorneys are being informed
about the group through mass mailings. It
is anticipated that the program will be in
operation by mid-March.
The research staff will be comprised of
students selected by the student director
and the faculty advisor. Their selection will
be based on writing skills and interest in the
program. Whether participation will be
limited to a certain number of students will
depend on the level of student interest.
The mechanics of the program are fairly
simple. The attorney wlll request in writing
that the group research a problem of in­terest
to him. The student director will then
assign the problem to one of the staff
researchers who will complete the research
and prepare the memorandum or legal brief.
Subsequently the product will be edited and
forwarded to the attorney along with the
bill. The average time to complete a
research project should be about three
weeks. However, urgent projects are an­ticipated
and will be accommodated at a
slightly higher fee.
The responsibility of the research group
for its work will be the same as that of a
student law clerk. The research, as will be
explained to the attorneys, is not intended
for final submission to the court.
Programs similar to the Student Legal
Research Group have been very successful
at other law schools including Washington
and Lee, Duke, Williamette, and the Uni­versity
of Kentucky. The group's fee
structure is competitive with other or­ganization's
both in and out of state. The
rates (e.g., $7 per hour for memoranda of
law, $8 per hour for trial and appellate
briefs) are based on the number of hours
actually spent researching a particular prob­lem
. Part of the fee will go to the student
researcher and the remainder will be used
to cover the group's expenses.
Attorneys who are interested in using the
Student Legal Research Group are asked to
write for assistance. The address is: Univer­sity
of Louisville School of Law, Louis­ville,
Kentucky 40208.
Serving The University of Louisville School of Law Community
Louisville, Kentucky, February 27, 1979 Circulation 3800
Journal of Family Law
Stuart E. Lampe, member of tile Kentucky
Board of Bar Examiners and former circuit
court judge, will speak at the law school
on March 16 about the bar exam. 0
Names Editors, Candidates
by Elizabeth Ward
The new editorial board for the Journal
of Family Law for 1979-80 was selected
this month. Although the previous board
has responsibility for publication until May,
the new board is now active in such areas
as candidate selection.
Present candidates who were interested
In becoming editors had to submit their
writings three months earlier than the staff
deadline -January -instead of late March.
Each candidate interested in board editor
positions submitted an application. The
present board, headed by Steve Berg,
selected the new board based on an overall
evaluation of the applicant throughout the
candidacy program and individual inter­views.
The new editor-in-chief is Stephanie
Hawkins Smith. She will oversee all Jour­nal
operations. Henry "Tippy" Richmond
was selected to fill the newly-created posi­tion
of research editor, and will be respon­sible
for keeping up with trends in family
law to decide what is important for the
0 Journal to cover. The new executive editor
is Lisa Hughes, and she will supervise proof­reading
and cite-checking. John Tate is
the new articles editor, who will be respon­sible
for procuring articles and preparing
them for publication. The former position
of book review editor has been incorpo­rated
into the articles editor position.
The new notes editors are Susan Turner
Barnett, Olivia Anne Morris Fuchs, Nancy
Niederman, and Nancy Osborne. They
(Continued on page 5)
Mock Trial Team Reaches Semi-Final Round
by Sam Carl
The Regional Mock Trial Competition
was held February 16 and 17 in Detroit,
Michigan, where 13 law schools vied for the
honor of representing the Mideast Region
in next month's national competition in
Houston, Texas. Representing U of Lin the
annual event were two teams comprised of
Richard Breen, Joe Fowler, Michael Hance,
James Green, and Willie Lowe.
Team members Joe Fowler and Michael
Hance received honors on behalf of U of L
by reaching the semi-final rounds, where
they competed against the West Virginia
University. This was the first time in three
years of participation that U of L has placed
in the Mideast Regional.
The competition tests participants' ability
to deal with problems as they arise in the
course of a trial, and the format is a court­room
setting. Professor Ronald Eades, U of L
team faculty advisor, explains that "it is a
difficult type of competition where
witnesses are supplied to be cross­examined.
Team members are allowed only
15 minutes before the trial to talk with their
witnesses, and so strategy must be devised
quickly." This year's problem involved a
federal criminal conspiracy charge and
teams were supplied with a stipulated set of
facts, an indictment, exhibits, and deposi­tions.
Using these materials both prosecu­tion
and defense roles were prepared by
each team, including opening and closing
statements, with no knowledge of which
stance would be taken until the time of
trial.
Prof. Eades stressed the "considerable
amount of time involved in pretrial prep­aration.
The U of L team worked on the
problem since receiving it in December and
had to conduct a great amount of legal
research to present the facts within the
rules of evidence."
Although courses in evidence and trial
preparation are helpful, no prerequisites exist
for team membership. Prof. Eades hopes
to produce an alternate team for future
Mock Trial competitions if intra school
competition indicates student interest.
The Mideast Region will be represented
in Houston on March 1 by the West Vir­ginia
University and the University of Dayton.
Members of the University of Louisville Mock Trial Team are, from left to right: Joe Fowler, Mike Hance, Willie Lowe, Richard
Breen, Jim Green and Assistant Professor Ronald Eades, faculty advisor. Mr. Fowler and Mr. Hance reached the semi-final round in
the recent regional competition held in Detroit.
2 Louisville Law Examiner, February 27, 1979
Louisville Law Examiner
EDITORIAL BOARD
Susan Turner Barnell , Co-Edilor-in Chief
Valerie Salven, Co-Editor-in-C hief
Shaun Esposito, Associa te Editor
Schuyler 011, Associate Edilor
Elizabeth Ward, Business Ma n a~:er
STAH
G re~ Yopp, City Editor
Bruce Dudley, Brandeis Brief Edilor
Jerry Adair, News Editor
Sam Carl, Projects Edilor
Rick Masters, Articles Edilnr
Jerome A. Mirabito, Executive Edilor
Judge MARLIN M. VOLZ, Advisor
Pal Chism, Pholo~:rapher
Gerald L "Bear" Schra), Arlisl
John Greenup, Assl. Business Manager
Andy Altman
Crai~: Bell
Frank Burnelle
Kcnnelh W. Golliher
Professor ALBERT T. QUICK, Consultant
The Louisville Law Examiner is published eight times during the academic year in the
interest of the University of Louisville School of Law community. Unsigned editorial opinions
are those representing a majority vote of the editorial board and do not necessarily express the
views of the School 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 witll 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.
A lunmus Eulogizes Professor Dobie
Dear Editors:
It was with profound regret that I read in
your issue of January 30, 1979, that Pro­fessor
Otis Preston Dobie had died last
June in Charlottesville, Virginia.
I was one of those students who had the
privilege of having studied under Professor
Dobie at the University of Louisville. I
regarded him then, and do so now thirty
years later, to be one of the finest pro­fessors
at the School of Law. In the field of
Constitutional Law, Administrative Law
and the Philosophy of the Law, I always
found him to be without peer.
It is indeed unfortunate that in the rush
of a busy law practice, we fail to give honor
and express appreciation to those under
whom we studied.
Unlike Antony's characterization of
Julius Caesar, the good that this man did
lives on. I can only hope that in some small
and minute way Professor Dobie's scholar­ship
continues to infuse those of us who
were fortunate and privileged to study law
under his tutelage.
I enclose a check for $100.00 to be used
by the University's School of Law as the
governing authority may see fit as a small
token of my deep sense of appreciation to
Professor Dobie.
Thank you for any attention you may
care to give to this letter.
Very truly yours,
Francis D. Burke
Mr. Burke's check has been forwarded to
Dean Wren.
-Eds.
"The mutual confidence on which all else depends can be maintained only by an
open mind and a brave reliance on free discussion."
-Learned Hand
Let us know your point of view.
Letters to the editors should be typed and signed. The editors reserve the right to
edit letters for space considerations and for clarity.
The Louisville Law Forum continued its series of addresses by Kentucky policital candi­dates.
Gubernatorial primary candidates appearing this month were Republican Ray
White, left, and Democrat Harvey Sloane.
''Brandeis Brief'' Series
The Legal Profession
American Judicature Society
Studies Judicial Performance
George H. Williams is the Executive Vice
President of the American Judicature
Society. He received his bachelor's degree
from Hofstra College in 1939, and his Juris
Doctorate degree from New York University
in 1946. Mr. Williams served in the army
during World War II and received the
Legion of Merit and Silver Star. He is
a member of the American Political Science
Association, the American Bar Association
and the Bar of the City of New York. He
co-authored a book on liberal arts educa­tion.
Mr. Williams is married and has four
children.
by George H. Williams
It has only been since 1961 that the states have in any way formalized and
defined the process by which judicial accountability is possible. In that year,
California took the lead in establishing its Commission on Judicial Performance
and provided a professional staff that formulated a body of experience that has
led , over the intervening years, to the establishment of comparable bodies in 48
states and the District of Columbia. The character of these commissions has
varied from state to state with very little exchange of experience or information
about procedural or substantive matters. Into this vacuum of leadership, the
American J udicature Society has moved with the blessing and cooperation of the
state bodies, particularly states who have regularized their own operations to the
point of requiring coordination at the national level.
AJS was a natural for playing this catalytic role. By establishing The Center for
Judicial Conduct Organizations, the Society was able to move with dispatch to
meet four important needs.
1) To serve as a clearinghouse of information for all interested in the field.
2) To develop loose-leaf reference materials including case digests of the ex­isting
law no where else available.
3) To provide in-house and on-site technical assistance to commissions.
4) To sponsor national and regional conferences by which the best and most
relevant experience becomes the action agenda for those commissions and staff
members on the firing line.
The growing body of experience at the state level is increasingly recognized as
providing effective means for correcting stubborn problems. The judicial conduct
bodies, normally consisting of lawyers, lay people and judges, are viewed at le~st
as much as protection for judges from baseless charges as they are prosecutonal
arms to correct judicial abuses that confront citizens when they have recourse to
their courts. Most citizens judge their judges at levels well below that of the
Supreme Court-usually in courts that handle misdemeanor or traffic offenses. ~t
is important to note that judicial abuses are not rampant. But because of the uni­que
position of a judge and popular expectation of fairness and patience, a
judge's departure from a high standard of conduct can seriously impair the
overall credibility of the courts. Only occasionally will corruption give rise to
complaints, more often than not it may be unorthodox work habits, senility,
alcoholism, judicial bad manners or even legal incompetence.
What is important is providing a viable means for alleged judicial abuse to be
examined and dealt with in terms fair to both the judge and the complaining par­ty.
Very often complaints are dismissed at the outset as frivilous or ill found_ed.
On the other hand, on occasion the mere bringing of a complaint has resulted m a
resignation rather than a formal removal process. Most commissions view one of
their roles as being educational in nature for members of the judiciary and for the
public as well. An examination of the areas of particular interest to commission
members reveals the degree to which fair investigation methods, adherence to due
process and honoring confidentiality are high among their concerns.
At the federal level there has been a curious reluctance to move toward enlarge­ment
of the impeachment process that is constitutionally provided. The so-called
Nunn Bill which in one form or another has long been under consideration, seems
destined to roam the Congressional seas like the phantom ship of old.
Basically, the objection asserted against enlarging remedies availab~e fC?r dis­ciplining
and removing federal judges that the Nunn Bill would provide IS two
fold: (a) the question of constitutionality and (b) the possible threat to judicial in­dependence.
The state experience does not seem to bear out the concern that
judicial accountability threatens judicial independence. On the other hand,
federal judges serving during "good behavior" are virtually immune from
d iscipline since Congressional intercession through judicial impeachment pro­ceedings
is at best a remote possibility.
There are few easy subject areas in the law and discipline and removal of judges
is not among them. That is why the role of The Center for Judicial Conduct
Orga nizations is so cr it ical at this time when responsible judicial conduct is com­ing
more sharply into foc us and as public hopes for judicial fairness surface with
greater frequency. . . . . .
We are, like it or not, in an age of consumen sm. While JUStice IS not a conven-
(Continued on page 8)
Louisville Law Examiner, February 27, 1979 3
Faculty Plans Suit on Differ:ent Issue
Duquesne Students Vote Against Suit-For Now
by Valerie Salven
Accreditation problems at a private law
school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, have
caused controversy among its students over
the level of funding allowed the school by
its parent university.
This controversy led the Student Bar
Association of the Duquesne University
School of Law to suggest that the student
body of the school bring suit against the
university to compel the university to
return all of the additional revenue
generated by an activities fee increase
directly to the School of Law. In a referen­dum
held in September, 1978, the law
students voted not to authorize the law suit
this year by the narrow margin of 310 to
285.
The law students were informed in June
that their activities fee would be increased
from $90 to $300, to bring it in line with the
amount paid by other students at Duquesne.
SBA President Ken Steinberg. said that the
University Budget Committee told him the
university was in financial trouble, and it
had decided that increasing the law stu­dents'
activities fee would be the best
method for balancing the books, according
to an article in The Duquesne Duke, the
student newspaper of Duquesne University.
Mr. Steinberg argued that this action was
essentially a tuition increase since the
university did not believe that the law
students were using extracurricular facil­ities
as much as other students, and that
any increase in tuition should be used to
help the law school. Mr. Steinberg said that
the SBA believed that the law school failed
to meet minimum ABA accreditation stand­ards.
A letter was sent to James P. White,
Consultant on Legal Education for the
ABA, on August 9, by Mr. Steinberg on
behalf of the SBA. In the letter, Mr.
Steinberg asked the ABA to send an inspec­tion
team to evaluate the school for inade­quate
library facilities, a poor student/
faculty ratio, and deficient salary level for
its faculty. (A hearing examiner was later
sent to the school by the ABA to decide
when a team should visit.)
In an August newsletter sent to the law
students of Duquesne, Mr. Steinberg told
the students that the university administra­tion
would provide additional support for
the law school only if a loss of accredita­tion
were threatened. He told them that
"The goal is to remedy the school's serious
weaknesses as soon as possible,'' and that
if Duquesne were again cited for violations
of ABA standards, they would be given
some time to "clean up" the school before
accreditation was actually revoked.
After the students voted against author­izing
the lawsuit, the SBA newsletter
reported that most of the students who cast
negative votes did so because of law school
Dean Ronald R. Davenport's statements
that administrative remedies were not yet
exhausted and that the school is in substan­tial
compliance with ABA-AALS accredi­tation
standards; the fear of adverse
publicity; and lack of specific information
concerning the suit.
In October, the SBA authorized their
ABA/Law Student Division representative,
John Gibson, to submit a proposed resolu­tion
to the LSD Board of Governors. The
resolution states that funds obtained
through law school tuition payments for
use by the university at large shall not ex­ceed
140 percent of the direct cost of the
operation of the law school at a university­affiliated
law school.
Although the inadequate funding of law
schools has been a growing concern of the
ABA in recent years, and was discussed by
panelists during a program at the ABA's
annual meeting last August, the Duquesne
resolution would apparently help only
privately run law schools. In a 1976 article
in Learning and the Law, a magazine
-publi;hed by the ABA Section onLegal
Education and Admissions to the Bar, it
was noted that while private universities de­pend
upon tuition payments to survive,
public universities are more dependent on
legislative allotments. The article noted
that legal education has become relatively
more expensive than in the past because of
increased emphasis on such things as
clinical programs, which require smaller
Some of the 299 voters in the Student Bar Association elections. An interview with the
new SBA President, Matthew Welch, will appear in the next issue.
SBA Selects New Officers
After a close run-off election second­year
student Matthew H. Welch defeated
Matt Livingood, another second-year stu­dent,
by a vote of 165 to 108 to become
the new Student Bar Association president
for the School of Law. The regular SBA
elections were held on February 20, and the
run-off election was conducted the follow ­ing
day.
Other election winners were: Earl G.
Penrod, day vice-president; Pat Welsh,
evening vice-president; Sheila Tow, secre­tary;
Dell Levy, treasurer; Sharon Conyer,
ABA/LSD representative; and Charles
Whalen, fourth-year evening representative.
Grover Cox, Ken Kasacavage and Bruce
Reynolds were elected senior Honor Council
members, and Mike Brooks and Schuyler
Olt were elected to the Honor Council
as junior class members.
student/ faculty ratios, and increasing
specialization of the practice of law, which
requires an expansion of law libraries. "It
quickly becomes clear that the traditional
model of the law school-with its large
classes, limited library use, narrow career
choices for students and emphasis on
teaching rather than research-no longer
meets the needs of the profession or the
public," the article stated.
Students at other private law schools
have attempted a suit against the parent
university, such as that proposed by the
Duquesne SBA, with some success. Stu­dents
at Gonzaga School of Law in
Spokane, Washington, placed their tuition
into a special fund in 1974 while they con­templated
suing the parent university for
breach of contract for not maintaining the
standards represented in the law school
catalogue. Legal action became unneces­sary,
however, when the university agreed
to provide greater funding to the law
school by withholding less of the revenue
generated by the school for general univer­sity
use. Two Gonzaga students reported
in the March, 1976, issue of Student
Lawyer magazine that the law school
was able to hire 10 new professors, double
its secretarial budget, start two clinical
programs and increase its book budget
25 percent with the increased revenue.
A 1973 suit brought against a parent
university by students of the University of
San Francisco Law School for breach of
contract based on alleged misrepresenta­tions
in the school catalogue that the school
met ABA standards was settled out-of­court
when the university agreed to
decrease its share of the law school's
. revenue from 37 to 22 percent. The law
school was then able to improve its student­faculty
ratio from 35-to-1 to 26-to-1.
Problems at Duquesne have not been
confined to finances alone. Dean Daven­port
was reappointed in January to another
five-year term as dean of the law school
despite organized opposition from the Du­quesne
Faculty Senate, and representatives
in the Duquesne Student Government As­sociation,
and the SBA.
In the notice of reappointment sent to
Dean Davenport, the University President
told him, "Some students, faculty, staff,
alumni, board members, administrators
and friends have expressed certain concerns
about your administration such as: absen­teeism,
unavailability, lack of input and
consultation and unity within the university.
I know you will address yourself to these
concerns.''
Dean Davenport told the student news­paper
that "People may not like me but 99
percent of our students passed the bar ex­am
the last time-the average is 80 percent.
Our people perform. Ultimately I will be
judged not on how nice a guy I am, but by
the quality of lawyer this law school pro­duces."
The president of the Faculty Senate,
however, stated that "There was strong
faculty concern, and the majority strongly
opposed reappointment. This is not a
workable solution."
SBA President Steinberg said it was his
opinion that Dean Davenport "has so far
been inefficient in transmitting the real
needs of the law school to the administra­tion,
in particular that of o\)taining money
to make ours a national law school. We're
still waiting for the results of the dean's
fund raising campaign for the new build­ing.
We are also wondering if the contribu­tions
coming in will really be helping the
law school."
Although the student referendum failed,
plans for litigation on behalf of the School
of Law at Duquesne University are now
being made by another group. Following
the reappointment of Dean DavenpOrt,
eight of the 15 full-time professors at the
law school filed suit against the university ·
alleging breach of their employment con­tracts
because the university violated dean
selection procedures as established by the
ABA, American Association of Law Schools,
and the university.
The preliminary hearing on the profes­sors'
suit is scheduled for March 5 in the
Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny
County, Pennsylvania.
Jim Shake, a second-year student, makes his choice.
4 Louisville Law Examiner,• February'27, 1979
New York Student Reflects
on a Summer in Harlan
Editors' Note: We thought our readers
would be interested in the impressions of
New York law student who spent his sum­mer
working in Harlan. The following story
was written by Bill Brooks, a student at
the State University of New York at Buffalo
School of Law. It is reprinted from the
SUNY/Buffalo School of Law student
newspaper, the Opinion.
When talking about working in Harlan,
Kentucky, one must also talk about
southeastern Kentucky. Two conversations
that occurred during my first week in
Harlan still stand out in my mind and help
exemplify what life in the area was like.
The first involved another law student who
worked at the office and a waitress at the
local Pizza Hut. The second took place bet­ween
the directing attorney at the office
who is originally from Oregon and myself.
The conversations went essentially like this:
Law student: What do you have to
drink?
Waitress: We can give you a pitcher.
Law Student: A pitcher! I thought this
was a dry town.
Waitress: Oh, you can still get a pitcher
of Coke.
Myself: (after reflecting upon the total
absence of any activity outside of work):
What made you want to settle in
southeastern Kentucky?
Attorney: When I first arrived in
southeastern Kentucky I hated the area. I
couldn't wait to serve my one year commit­in
Harlan, but in southeastern Kentucky in
general, to teach or prepare students to live
in any place other than southeastern Ken­tucky.
As a result, most people are born
and grow up and live in the area, an area
which many people would choose to leave
if they believed they could live in some
other place.
So people remain in Harlan. Violence for
many is a way of life. Food prices are
outrageous. For those who have housing,
living conditions are outrageous. For
others, housing is non-existent. Many of
these types of problems reach the legal ser­vices
office.
Perhaps a distinguishing characteristic
of many, although certainly not all cases
the office received, is a sense of urgency. I
had a case in which a man and a woman lived
together for 10 years and then separated.
Nothing particularly unusual. However,
the man threw our client out of their house
without permitting her to take a thing. He
threatened her with violence if she came
back to try to take any of her belongings. A
person follows the progress of any legal ac­tion
fairly closely when she has to borrow
just about everything, including her
friend's underwear, in order to get by.
Perhaps one reason such an urgency
develops is because people act with little
"Any attempt to organize is met with
tremendous resistance, bootlegging still
flourishes and the town is tremendously corrupt.''
ment and get out. But after a while the
work just draws you down here. There is so
much that has to be done. It just draws you
down here.
And so it does, for some. Those people
not from the area (none of the lawyers in
the office were from southeastern Ken­tucky),
when doing nothing, could still
derive some satisfaction from providing
legal services to people who so desperately
need them. Why does such a need exist?
Harlan is a town which is in many
respects still in the 1930's or 40's. Any at­tempt
to organize labor is met with tremen­dous
resistance, bootlegging still flourishes
and the town is tremendously corrupt.
Those in power, the local politicos, the
bootleggers, coal operators and other
businessmen, care for little else than re­maining
in power.
The main purpose of government bodies
and organizations is to help retain existing
power structure. Perhaps the most impor­tant
consequence of such a system is the
failure of the Board of Education, not only
SUMMER
LAW STUDY
in
Guadalajara
London
Oxford
Paris
San Diego
For information: Prof. H. Lazerow
U. of San Diego School of Law
Alcala Park, San Diego, Cl\ 9211 0
regard for, or have any conception of, the
rule of law. Before the legal services office
opened, most people had no access to legal
help. The private bar did not offer much
help because people could not afford a
private attorney. (My impression of the
private bar is they had very few interests
other than obtaining legal fees.)
This criticism may be unjust, but it pro­bably
isn't. As a result, many people over
the years have had very little contact with
the legal system, especially concerning civil
matters. They thus have a tendency to
disregard the law and act as they please.
A client of ours whose parents totally
dominated her life, ran off to the local
Marryin' Sam across the state line with
some boy. She stayed the night at her in­laws.
The next day her parents received
word of the wedding and went after her.
With shotgun in hand, pointed at the offend­ing
in-laws, her father forcibly took her
home. When her father was told he could
not do this as well as many other things he
Marlow Cook, former United States senator from Kentucky, addressed the University of
Louisville School of Law Alumni Foundation at a luncheon on February 19. The Founda­tion
has decided to become "dormant" next year and will allow the University to control
its funds.
was doing, this Seventh Day Adventist
said, "There are two types of law, man's
law and God's law. I follow God's law."
Work did have its share of disappoint­ments.
Many of these disappointments in­volved
a feeling of futility when I saw
much hard work, both my own and the
work of others in the office, go down the
drain. ln my first week at work, our direct­ing
attorney represented a woman in a
divorce/child custody proceeding. Our at­torney
brought out evidence that established
the husband beat his wife and bootlegged,
among other things.
The judge awarded custody of the
children to the wife and issued a restraining
order prohibiting the husband from being
with the wife or children except in limited
circumstances. Two weeks later husband
and wife could be seen walking hand in
hand on Main Street. As far as I know,
they remained "reconciled" for the rest of
the summer.
On the whole I enjoyed the summer very
much. Above all else, the work provided an
extremely rewarding experience. However,
when not working, life was pretty dull.
Unlike the attorneys in the office, however,
I made a minimal commitment.
Knowing I would leave at the end of the
summer, I tried to ignore the absence of
what we all take for granted, such as
recreation, and sublimated all my energies
toward work. I came away with a partial
insight regarding a small town in Ap­palachia,
the role legal services plays in this
town, and the way in which such services
helps to make life a little more pleasant for
many people who otherwise would be forced
to go without any such help.
Much of what I say appears to be asser­tions
that a person who has stayed in an
area for 10 weeks has no business making.
Much of what I say in this article comes
from The Wa1chers of !he Nigh! by Harry
Caudill and conversations from people
who have lived and worked southeastern
Kentucky for some years now.
MOVING?
Please send us your new address
at least four weeks in advance.
CLASS o..f '81
Loui~Ville lsaw<Euminel', ·Febiilary 27: "t979' .,,,
HEY, PlcRSow, I THOUGHT
YOU r/AO A C LAS~ NOW.
W£ 'WERE PRc·E'MPTE'D
BY ANOTt-4fR POLITICAL
CANOl DATE.
s
Faculty Votes to Abolish Legal Method Course
by Shaun Esposito
"It was inevitable," said Professor
Robert L. Stenger of the faculty vote to
abolish the Legal Method class. Prof.
Stenger, who has taught the course five
times, said that he is not surprised by the
vote. It has been brought up every year
and has always faced si·gnificant faculty
and student opposition, he said.
Professor Ralph S. Petrilli, Chairman
of the Curriculum Committee, confirmed
that the faculty has voted to abolish the
class which was formerly a requirement
for first year students. The faculty also
voted to replace the course with Constitu­tional
Law I in the first semester of the
freshman year. Constitutional Law II will
be required during the second semester of
the first year, Prof. Petrilli said .
There was considerable discussion on
the vote to abolish Legal Method, Prof.
J oumal Editors,
Candidates Chosen
(Continued from page 1)
will oversee the candidate program, train the
candidates, and edit the candidates' work.
The managing editor, who will handle busi­ness
matters, is Peter Ostermiller and the re­cent
cases editor is Cheryl Carpenter. Pat
Ballard will serve as staff editor.
Steve Berg, the current editor-in-chief of
the Journal, said that the new Journal has a
"strong board with a great deal of talent
and a sufficient number of editors, which
was the goal in the past. They really should
do some good things for the Journal."
Candidates for next year's Journal staff
were recently chosen by the new editorial
board. The board evaluated writing samples
submitted by interested students and con-
· Sidered them along with the students'
GPA's to pick those that they believed to
be best qualified. Telephone calls were
made to all students who made the dean's
list during the fall semester to encourage
those students to submit a writing sample
to the Journal, but any student with a 2.6
or better GPA was also encouraged to apply.
The entire selection process was anony­mous,
and the st udents signed consent
forms for the release of their grades to the
board.
The candidates will begin their training
in March and will begin their writing in the
summer.
Additional candidates may be chosen in
May based on samples already submitted.
The 23 new candidates are Karen Alder­dice,
Andrew Altman, Donald A. Becher,
· Maxine Bizer, Holly Denise Carroll, Laurence
J. Clark, Suzanne H. Erb, Shaun C. Esposito,
A. Campbell Ewen, Samuel Fritschner,
Mark Little, Colleen McKinley.
Also, Phyllis S. Mattingly, William S.
Mautner, Marilyn Meredith, Marilyn Michno,
James A. Nitsche, Kathiejane Oehler,
Schuyler Olt, Renona Rueff, Timothy Salan­sky,
John Saltsman, and Cynthia Sue Young.
Petrilli said. Everyone was given a chance
to talk, he said. He indicated that the vote
was taken at this time because the faculty
is attempting to put out a curriculum a
a year in advance to allow students to bet­ter
plan their course selections.
Prof. Stenger said that he thinks it un­fortunate
that students will not have the
opportunity to read and discuss the great
formative American jurists, such as Holmes
and Cardozo. He believes that it is impor­tant
to study about "judges thinking about
what the judicial process is."
Prof. Stenger also expressed some ap­prehension
about Constitutional Law II
becoming part of the first year curriculum.
He noted that with the possibility of UCC
II becoming part of the first year Con­tracts
class a substantial increase in the
first year workload may result. He feels
that the first year curriculum will be much
more difficult next year.
Meetings of first year students in small
groups will pass with the abolition of the
Legal Method course, Prof. Stenger noted.
He feels that the students will be deorived
of the valuable experience of free-wheel­ing
discussions in small groups.
Legal Method was not Jurisprudence,
Prof. Stenger added. It only touched the
theo'ries of jurisprudence. Contrary to the
belief of some, he said, it was not a
philosophy course. .
Finally he disagreed with those who
·would contend that the course was a "waste
of time." He believes, however, that given
the realities of the increasing bar failure
and the increased emphasis on bar courses,
the demise of Legal Method was inevitable.
Professor Leonard R. Jaffee taught the
Legal Method class at night last semester.
Prof. Jaffee conducted a survey of the stu­dents
to determine student reactions to it.
It was designed with the curriculum in
mind, he said. Questions concerned the
content of the course and not the teaching .
The results, Prof. Jaffee said, gave the
course a C + or a B- . Prof. Jaffee ques­tioned
the accuracy of the results in that
some responses may have been directed
more to the teaching of the course than
the actual content. Without this direction,
he said, the results may have been more
positive.
After the exam period, Prof. Jaffee said,
student reaction was better than it was initi­ally.
After the grades were in some students
reactions were even more enthusiastic, he
noted. Since the beginning of the present
semester some students have told him that
the knowledge pulled together in Legal
Method has helped them in other classes.
Prof. Jaffee sees the recent difficulties
with the bar exam and the difficulty of
fitting all of the "hard-core" bar courses
in the curriculum as being the only possible
justification for the abolition of Legal
Method. However, he believes that the
course enhances analytical and linguistic
skills necessary to pass the bar and practice
law competently.
Like Prof. Stenger, Prof. Jaffee denies
that Legal Method was a philosophy course
or akin to Jurisprudence. He suggested
that those faculty who opposed the course
for this reason had not seen the course
taught.
He concluded that one cannot functiQn
as a lawyer unless one has acquired the
skills that Legal Method teaches.
Next Month:
State of the School
Dean Harold G. Wren delivered the
State Gf the Law School address to
students, faculty and staff on
Wednesday, February 21. Our pub­lishing
deadlines did not permit us to
include coverage of the speech in
this issue, but an article will appear
next time.
Members of the new editorial board of the Journal of Family Law are: Nancy Osborne, Editor-in-Chief Stephanie Hawkins Smith,
Henry C. T. Richmond, Susan Turner Barnett, John Tate, Nancy Niederman, Lisabeth Hughes, Peter Ostermiller, Cheryl Carpenter,
and Olivia Anne Morris Fuchs. '
I '
I
(
I
{
6 Louisville Law Examiner, February 27, 1979
Appearing in the
Journal of Family Law
Volume 17, Number 1
Articles
FOSTER CARE AND FAMILY LAW: A LOOK AT SMITH V. OFFER AND THE
CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF FOSTER CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES
By Marian F. Dobbs
The article explores some fundamental issues of family law and foster care and
discusses the legal and factual background of foster care in relation to the United States
Supreme Court case of Smith v. Organization of Foster Families for Equality and
~eform. The author examines the respective constitutional rights of foster children, the
!natural family, and the foster family. She concludes that a child has a constitutional right
o a known and adequate home and that due process demands an automatic pre­ermination
hearing when a child is to be transferred from a known foster home to a new
oster home.
REPOSSESSION UNDER THE U .C.C.: THE RIGHTS OF THE
jcREDITOR AND DEBTOR
By Robert E. Harrison
The author discusses repossession provisions of Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial
Code governing repossession and disposition of repossessed collateral. The author ex­lamines
the rights under the 'Uniform Commercial Code governing repossession and disposi­tion
of repossessed collateral. The author examines the rights of the debtor and creditor
under the default provisions of Article 9, pitfalls that an unwary creditor may encounter,
and legal redress available to a consumer who meets with a non-complying creditor.
Legal Essay
ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION AND AN ENLIGHTENED JUDICIARY
By GeorgeP. Smith, II
Legal and religious responses to heterologous artificial insemination are discussed. The
author presents his own views against a backdrop of a New Jersey case granting visitation
rights to a donor who was not married to the mother of the artificuilly-conceived child.
Notes
BEAL, MAHER & POELKER; THE END OF AN ERA?
Discussion and Justice-by-Justice analysis of privacy case law through June 1977, the
date the Supreme Court held that neither public hospitals nor state medicaid programs are
required to provide abortion services to indigents.
THE CRIME OF INCEST AGAINST THE MINOR CHILD AND THE STATES'
STATUTORY RESPONSES
This note examines the incidence and effect of sexual mistreatment of children within
jboth legal and de facto families. State legislatures often try to address the problem of in­lcestuous
abuse of children and the problem of marriage and sexual relations between closely
related adults with the same statute. Strengths and weaknesses of the states' incest sta­utes
arc examined, and suggestions are made for tailoring legislation to better protect
~hildren from incestuous abuse.
Comment
THE INTERRACIAL ADOPTION IMPLICATIONS OF DRUMMOND V. FULTON
COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND CHILDREN SERVICES
The appropriate use of racial considerations in adoption determinations has not been
decided by the United States Supreme Court but is highly contested among child place­ment
agencies and courts. The comment traces the unsuccessful petition of one white couple,
seeking adoption of their allegedly mulatto foster child, through the sequence of state and
federal cases leading to ultimate denial of their petition to the United States Supreme
Court for writ of certiorari. Notwithstanding, substantial evidence that agency denial of
their application was predetermined on the basis of race, and the fact that the child had
been in the couple's home from birth to age two and one-half years, the agency was found
to have acted solely for the purpose of protecting the child's best interest.
Case Notes
The following issues are presented and analyzed in the case note section: The constitu­tionality
of Alabama constitutional and statutory provisions which denied men, but not
women, the right to vote upon conviction of · 'assault and battery on the wife;" in­cludability
in employees' gross income, as compensation, of educational benefits where
employer paid sums to trustee who paid post-high school educational expenses of
employees' children; retroactivity of a statute granting wives the right to damages for loss
of consortium where no such right existed at common law; compliance with an antisuit in­~
unction issued by a sister state's court; authority of a court granting divorce to award
child support when the divorce petition contamed no prayer tor child support; constitu­tionality
of a municipal corporation's policy of not employing spouses of current
employees.
~ecent Cases
Over 50 recent cases are summarized in this issue of the Journal.
Student Legal Research Group
• memoranda of law • trial briefs •appellate briefs
For further information concerning the Group's services
please write or call:
University of Louisville
School of Law
Louisville, Ky. 40208
(502) 588·6399
First Year Grade Profiles
Show Continued Decline
by JohnS. Greenup
The release of the grade profile for the
first year class covering the fall semester
reveals another decline in the GP A, falling
to a 2.317 compared to a 2.380 for the fall
of 1977, and a 2.435 for the fall of 1976
(see chart below).
Breaking down the grades for the last
semester the scores in the day division are as
follows:
Legal Research
Torts I
Contracts I
Property I
Procedure I
Legal Method
GPA
A
2.854
2.145
2.520
2.228
2.250
2.291
2.381
B
2.760
2.226
1.680
2.232
2.320
2.300
2.253
The nighest number of "As" given in a
single class was seven, in Legal Research,
Sec. A; the lowest number of "As" was
two, in Contracts, Sec. B. The highest
number ofFs was also in Contracts, Sec. B.
Three classes did not issue any Fs - Legal
Research A & B, Contracts, Sec. A. and
Procedure, Section B.
The GPA breakdowns for the fall
semesters of 1977 and 1976 are listed
below.
FALL 1977
Legal Research (deferred until spring
semester)
Torts I 2.076 2.196
Contracts I 2.661 2.484
Property I 2.432 2.257
Procedure I 2.582 2.409
Method 2.338 2.378
GPA 2.417 2.344
FALL 1976
Legal Research 80 pass 70 pass
0 fail 1 fail
Torts I 2.500 2.500
Contracts I 2.469 2.542
Property I 2.575 2.328
Procedure I 2.577 2.492
Method 2.149 2.222
GPA 2.454 2.417
The GPA for the first year evening divi­sion
class has also experienced a d!!cline
over the past few years, from 2.434 in 1977
to 2.405 last semester. The evening division
profile for 1976-1979 is as follows:
1976
Legal Research 28 pass
Torts I 2.492
Contracts I 2.671
Property I 2.750
Procedure I 2.453
Method 2. 707
GPA 2.614
1977 1978
2.983 (no grade)
2.338 2.195
2.250 2.416
2.250 3.181
2.560 1.978
2.223 2.659
2.434 2.405
News-in-Brief
The faculty of the School of Law recent­ly
recommended several faculty members
for promotion and/or tenure. They are:
Leslie W. Abramson, recommended for
tenure and promotion from associate pro­fessor
to full professor; R. Thomas
Blackburn, recommended for promotion
from assistant professor to associate pro­fessor;
Albert T. Quick, recommended for
tenure and promotion from associate pro­fessor
to full professor; Robert L. Stenger,
recommended for tenure and promotion
from associate professor to full professor;
and Gene W. Teitlebaum, recommended
for tenure and promotion from associate
professor to full professor.
The recommendations will be considered
by the vice president for academic affairs
and the university president before the
board of trustees takes final action on them
later this year.
J . Vincent Aprile II, assistant deputy
public advocate for the State of Kentucky
and a lecturer at the School of Law, was a
featured speaker recently at the annual
meeting of the New York State Defenders
Association in New York City. Mr. Aprile
discussed a proposed change in the New
York Penal Law and new trial defense
techniques necessitated by recent changes
in rape and sexual assault legislation during
a Sexual Assault Workshop held at the
meeting on January 26.
Mr. Aprile teaches the Written Ad­vocacy
and Criminal Defense: Theory and
Practice seminars at the School of Law.
MICHIE~€?
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 lawyer­editors
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 Schultz
Sales Representative
821 Skylark Drive
Louisville, Kentucky 40223
(502) 583·887 4 or 425·0834
Louisville Law Examiner, February 1.7, 1979 7
Seminar gives Students
Broad Legal Experience
by Rick Masters
A common complaint among law
students and members of the practicing
bench and bar is that legal education does
not adequately prepare the student for the
practice of law. The difference between
academic theory and actual practice fre­quently
seems irreconcilable. As one law
student put it, "Law schools offer great
opportunities for those seeking careers as
law professors, but I always wanted to be a
lawyer!"
For those who can identify with this
dilemma, help may be available in the form
of the Seminar on the Lawyering Process, a
three credit hour course supervised by
Assistant Professor Lloyd Anderson.
As its title suggests, the course is de­signed
to allow study and practice in law­yering
skills including interviewing, investi­gation,
counseling, negotiation, and court­room
behavior, with the goal of developing
a practical model of the lawyer's decision
making process. Participation in the course
is contingent upon the student's having
completed a minimum number of credit
hours as well as having obtained approval
from the Kentucky Supreme Court to serve
as a legal intern. This procedure qualifies
the student to draft and sign legal
documents as well as to represent clients
and appear in court on their behalf, all
under the required supervision of an at­torney
qualified to practice in the Com­monwealth
of Kentucky.
After qualifying as a legal intern, each
student is assigned to an attorney, who
through prearrangement has agreed to
supervise the student. Each student intern
is free to choose from a number of legal
areas where he wishes to be assigned. These
areas include: Domestic Relations, Con-umer
Law, Landlord-Tenant Law,
Juvenile Justice, and a "Miscellaneous"
category.
There are eight students enrolled in the
course this semester and all of those inter­viewed
expressed their overall satisfaction
with the experience and its practical value
to their future as practitioners. One such
student is Kate Daugherty, a May degree
candidate assigned to intern in the area of
Domestic Relations. Ms. Daugherty said
that she had already been involved in six
cases this semester and has appeared in
court on behalf of clients.
"One of the most helpful by-products of
JAMES P. QUEENAN
2509 Savannah Road
Louisville, KY 40222
(502) 425-21 7 4
THE LAWYERS
CO-OPERATIVE
PUBLISHING COMPANY
II II LCp
the course thus far," according to Ms.
Daugherty, "is that my knowledge of legal
abstractions has become concrete
awareness of how that knowledge applies
to actual legal problems." She also stated
that, "This course has acted as a transition
from law school to law practice, providing
me with practical experiences which I
wouldn't have obtained any other way."
In regard to her work schedule, Ms.
Daugherty explained that she was expected
to work a minimum of six hours per week
and that she could work additional hours if
she chose. When asked what her most en­lightening
discovery had been thus far
Ms. Daugherty replied that, "It was the
realization that the judicial system, when
functioning at its best, does not always
view the courtroom and the judicial pro­ceeding
as the best place to solve. all pro­blems
between people. In many instances
the judicial system sends people to quali­fied
professionals or social service agencies
where they can obtain assistance which the
courts are not equipped to provide."
Another student interviewed was Sue
Boone, also a May degree candidate who
commented that her involvement in the in­tern
program was rather exceptional in that
her primary duties have been in the area of
legislation. Ms. Boone explained that she is
currently involved in the formulation of
material and the drafting of a statute con­cerning
the involuntary commitment of
minor children to mental institutions. She
reported that her duties were "primarily
research oriented" and that she regarded
the experience "as a great challenge." She
said that she would recommend the course
to anyone but suggested that the course
should be taken in a semester in which the
student has a lighter academic load.
It appears that the Lawyering Proces
Seminar is accomplishing its stated objec­tive
to a large degree. At this point the con­clusion
may be drawn that with the rela­tively
small number of students in the pro­gram,
it is being underutilized. However,
this may be explained by the large number
of students who prefer or find it necessary
to work at clerking or other jobs. It is
hoped that support for this program will
increase on the part of students as well as
others in the legal community as the outcry
increases for law school graduates who are
skilled in the practice of law as well as
educated in its principles.
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.
D forms carefully selected from
court records and the files of
qualified practitioners in every
jurisdiction
D concise text statements of
governing legal principles.
D hundreds of jury instructions
D references to pertinent local
statutes and·procedural rules
Photo by Pat Chism
"He travels fastest who travels alone."
HOFSTRA
LAW
SCHOOL
Summer
Program
1979
For further information
write or call
(516) 560-3636
- Rudyard Kipling
SUMMER SESSION I
MAY 29-JULY 9
COURSES CREDITS
Conflict of Laws 3
Criminal Procedure I 3
Debtor Creditor 3
Evidence 4
Family Law 3
Individual Income Tax 4
International Law 2
Land Use Planning 3
Secured Transactions 3
SUMMER SESSION II
JULY 11-AUGUST 24
Business Organizations
Commercial Paper
Communications Law
Health Law
Labor Law
4
3
3
3
3
Products Liability 3
Wills, Trusts & Estates 4
HOFSTAA*
UNIVERSITY SCHOOLOF LAW
HEMPSTEAD, NEW YORK 11550
8 Louisville Law Examiner, February 27, 1979
Judicial Performance Studied
(Continued from page 2)
tional or even predictable commodity, citizens increasingly expect the account­ability
of those who judge the merits of their personal and business affairs. The
regularizing of the work of state commissions is timely. The role of federal judges ·
is likely to come under increasingly careful review. The existence of The Center
for Judicial Conduct Organizations, a service of the American Judicature Society,
is an important assurance that the growth of the field will be in accordance with
fair and reasonable procedures which contribute to improved judicial ·effectiveness.
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. Universjty of Kentucky
J. D. University of Kentucky
WEST PUBLISHING COMPANY
Sales Representative
Phone: 502/584/5058
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
March I Louisville Law Forum sponsors Louie Nunn; University of Louis­School
of Law, Allen Court Room, Noon.
March 5 Louisville Law Forum sponsors Carroll Hubbard; University of
Louisville School of Law, Allen Court Room, Noon.
March 8 Last day to drop a course, School of Law.
March 9 Continuing Legal Education, Workshop for Legal Secretaries;
University of Kentucky College of Law.
March 9-11 Sixth Circuit ABA/LSD Spring Conference; Cleveland, Ohio.
March 15 KBA/ LSD sponsors Judge Stuart Lampe discussing the Ken­tucky
Bar Exam; University of Louisville School of Law, Allen
Court Room, 5 p.m.
March 17-25 Spring Break, School of Law.
April!O Deadline for filing application for Kentucky Bar Exam.
Louisville Law Examiner
School of Law
University Of Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky 40208
I ~
..
John M. Harlan Louis D. Brandeis
Louisville
Law Examiner
Volume4
Number6
February 27, 1979
Students organize
a brief-writing
service for
attorneys
... page 1
Faculty
deletes Legal,
Method from
first-year
curriculum
... pag~S
"Knowledge is
of two kinds.
We know a
subject
ourselves,
or we know
where we
can find
infm;mation
upon it."
- Samuel Johnson