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Case Western Reserve University School of Law Scholarly Commons In Brief Law School Publications 1982 In Brief Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/in_brief Recommended Citation In Brief, iss. 23 (1982). https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/in_brief/23 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Law School Publications at Case Western Reserve University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in In Brief by an authorized administrator of Case Western Reserve University School of Law Scholarly Commons. Address s" «^ Sir Correction "cu fS*^ O!=■ S,3 OS' re^ it- ai Requested lu ? LAW ALUMNI NEWS BULLETIN O re CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY c PROFILES ON: FIVE WESTERN RESERVE LAW SCHOOL GRADS WHO NOW SERVE AS U.S. DISTRICT COURT JUDGES H In/ Patricia D. Smith The Honorable Ben Charles Green, '30 Twenty years ago, as Judge Green recalls, the Democratic Party held most political offices in Cleveland, and for that matter, in Ohio. "In 1958, 59 and the early 60's the U.S. senators, most of the legislators and the county officials were all Democrats^' And Judge Green was right in there. At the time an attor ney, he was also treasurer of the Cuyahoga County Demo cratic Committee, a member of the Democratic Executive Committee, and a chairman of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections. A force to be reckoned with. And so not too surprisingly, when Senator John F. Ken nedy came to town campaigning, Ben Green would meet him at the airport. Green made several campaign appear ances with Kennedy. Later when the senator became presi dent, Green became a U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Ohio and the first graduate of Western Reserve University Law School to be appointed to the federal bench. Shortly thereafter, in 1962, James Connell, the chief judge of that court, appointed Green to handle all the electrical amtimied on next NEW LAW school DEAN ANNOUNCED (see story pg. 12) Annual Fund Exceeds Half-Way Mark 00 ^3I (see story pg. 13) 1!i CWRU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION matters before the grand jury and about a dozen indict ments were handed down. Some top corporate officers 1981-82 were sent to jail. Officers The upshot was headlines across the nation—and a flood President, Lawrence G. Knecht, '36 of civil anti-trust suits. Vice President, John J. Whitney, '50 Thousands of documents began flooding the courts and Secretary-Treasurer, Richard C. Renkert, '51 the conducting of discovery proceedings became almost im Board of Overseers Representative, F. Rush McKnight, '55 possible. So a group of leading U.S. judges formed the Annual Fund Chairman, Charles R. Ault, '51 multi-district litigation court committee and appointed cer tain judges to sit in on deposition hearings. Judge Green was one of the judges. Board of Governors "I traveled to San Francisco, San Diego, San Antonio, James H. Berick, '58 Harry Hanna, '64 Chicago, Baltimore—meeting with the other judges and at Edgar FI. Boles, 11, '73 Charles W. Kitchen, '50 torneys involved in these cases. We'd all sit around, the Sheldon Braverman, '65 George McGaughey, '75 judges 'en banc' and the lawyers, in one big courtroom," Beverly Coen, '77 Ivan L. Otto, '62 remembers the judge, getting up from his chair and wander Byron D. Fair, '48 George B. Ramsayer, '62 ing over to a group portrait from those hectic days. Frances F. Goins, '77 Robert Reffner, '77 Since then. Judge Green has seen a lot of changes in the Ben C. Green, '30 Arthur J. Tassi, '79 kinds of cases coming before the federal bench. There is a lot of litigation in areas that would have been pretty rare back then—civil rights cases, product liability and malpractice suits. ’ LAW SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION Did he ever think he would one day be a judge? No, but he sure knew pretty quickly that he was going to be a lawyer. AND FACULTY After graduating from high school he not only worked in a Lindsey Cowen, Dean and Professor law office, but spent a lot of evenings attending night classes Hugh A. Ross, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at John Marshall Law School. Still, he felt himself far too Daniel T. Clancy, Associate Dean for Student Affairs and young to be a lawyer and so instead began his freshman Co-Director, Center for Criminal Justice year at Ohio State University. There he heard about the sen- Oliver C. Schroeder, Jr., Weatherhead Professor of Law ior-in-absentia arrangement between Western Reserve Uni and Director of Admissions and Financial Aid versity Law School and Adelbert College. The next year he Patricia Ferry, Executive Assistant to the Dean registered at Adelbert and two years later, along with his Anne M. McIntyre, Law Alumni Coordinator brother Jack, was a member of the first-year class at Western and Editor, In Brief Reserve University, Law School. Ann Klein, Director of Placement More than a half-century may have passed since Judge Green's law school days as a member of the class of 1930, but he still remembers his professors fondly. Faculty "There was Throckmorton—a tall, straight figure who sel Roger I. Abrams Wilbur C. Leatherberry dom smiled, but an outstanding individual. And Finfrock— Arthur D. Austin James W. McElhaney quite a professor. And a great baseball fan. So was I," ad Steven N. Bulloch Karen Nelson Moore ding with a,laugh, "still am." Ronald J. Coffey Marcia Gaughan Murphy Then there was Brightman. It seems that he decided early Melvyn R. Durchslag Spencer Neth on that young Green was a lad with great potential. Given Leon Cabinet Sidney I. Picker, Jr. that Judge Green graduated from Adelbert College cum Paul C. Giannelli Hugh A. Ross laude and later made Order of the Coif, Brightman was Simon L. Goren Oliver C. Schroeder, Jr. pretty much on the mark. Peter D. Junger Morris G. Shanker "In my first year I got the highest grade in Professor Lewis R. Katz David Sobelsohn Brightman's class and from then on any time he started a Robert P. Lawry Eric Zagrans new subject, he'd be sure to call on me first, and I knew I had to be prepared." Visiting Faculty And what of brother Jack? Well, Judge Green remembers that after the top 10 were chosen for the Coif, Jack was hold Harold Wren ing down the number 11 spot. Upon graduation, the two opened up the law office of In Brief Green & Green. "And we did everything," says Judge Green. "Those were the Depression years, and for young Patricia D. Smith, Contributing Editor lawyers just out of school, clients didn't come around too Mike Sands, Photographer frequently." So a few years later in 1933, when business was pretty slow, the judge took a job with the Federal Land Bank of Kentucky in Louisville for a couple of years, before return industry anti-trust, civil action suits in this district. In some ing to Green & Green. 50 of these cases, plaintiffs (including the city of Cleveland) A member of the Society pf Benchers, Judge Green's rela were bringing suit against the manufacturers of heavy elec tionship with the school is a close one. He feels the law trical equipment. school now is far differenl from the days when he and Jack "It seems when the plaintiffs went out to buy their prod took all their classes in the largest room on the first floor. ucts, smiles Judge Green, "the price quoted was always And it is a change that is more than a matter of new build the same." ings. During this time. Judge Green was making many trips "Our work was really theoretical, mainly research into where he would meet with U.S. district judges from all over case law. So when I got out, 1 knew very little about how to the country, who were also dealing with this kind of multi file a case or how-to conduct myself in a courtroom. That's district litigation. Previous to the filing of civil anti-trust all changed now. The law school teaches the law, but it also cases, Philadelphia's district attorney brought some of these prepares its students to be lawyers." 2 3 Judge Young referred to the Patricia Hearst trial and the Detroit School desegregation case in pointing out that judges do not often live through such courtroom scenes. But Judge Young made it and at 71 still handles a heavy docket. As he describes a trial incident, one glimpses part of the reason for his resiliency. "Counsel had been arguing for the admissibility of a par ticular photographic exhibit. The other side objected, claim ing it was identical to an exhibit already entered. To which counsel retorted that it was identical except for a long list of differences and then proceeded to list them. At this point 1 interjected, 'I'm reminded of why President Nixon is just like Santa Claus. They both have long white whiskers, ex cept for Santa Claus.' Do you know the plaintiff's lawyer was heard to say, 'I didn't know Nixon had whiskers,' and that brought down the house." Although Kent State may have been the most difficult trial for him, the judge sees his 1971 decision in Jones v. Witten The Honorable Don J. Young, '34 berg as the one which most influenced the course of the law. As he came from his chambers in greeting. Judge Don In his decision. Judge Young ruled that conditions at the old Young seemed the quiet scholar, peering as he did over Lucas County jail, in and of themselves, constituted cruel wire-rimmed spectacles.