University of California Berkeley ' L t ""i^ I ^in Herman Selvin THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AND CALIFORNIA LAW AND LAWYERS, 1920-1978 Regional Oral History Office The Bancroft Library HERMAN F. SELVIN Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California University History Series Herman Selvin THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AND CALIFORNIA LAW AND LAWYERS, 1920-1978 With an Introduction by Joseph A. Ball An Interview Conducted by Anne Brower in 1976 and 1978 Copy no. 1979 Copyright (c) by. the Regents of the University of California TABLE OF CONTENTS -- He man Selvin \ INTRODUCTION i INTERVIEW HISTORY vi BIOGRAPHY viii I CHILDHOOD IN TOOELE , UTAH 1 The Town 1 Early Education 4 Excursions to Salt Lake City 5 Family Goals and Ideals 8 Family Members 11 II THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 15 Choosing the University 15 Arrival at Berkeley 17 Family Move to Berkeley 18 The Berkeley Fire 19 Attitude toward Southern California 22 The "California Spirit" 24 U.C. Graduates and California Politics 28 Membership in Campus Organizations 29 Recollections of the Boalt Hall Faculty 31 Recollections of the U.C. Faculty 36 Campus Representative of the Associated Press 41 Campus Organizations 44 Influential Professors 46 Campus Politics 47 ASUC News Bureau 48 Bonus Stories for the Associated Press 52 U.C. Band, Card Stunts, and Mascot 54 Program for the First Memorial Stadium Game 56 The Big Game 58 Fraternities 61 The California Crew 65 U.C. Students and the Press 69 Kappa Nu and Zeta Beta Tau 73 The Berkeley Campus after World War I 74 Recruitment of Athletes 76 Berkeley in the Twenties 78 U.C. Students and Prohibition 81 Ill THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA ADMINISTRATION, THE STATE, AND THE PUBLIC 86 Presidents of the University 86 Regents of the University 88 Governor Ronald Reagan 91 Relationship between the Governors and the University 92 University Issues '20s to 60s 93 The University and Affirmative Action 97 IV WORLD WAR II 102 Enlistment 102 Indoctrination and Training 103 Caribbean and Atlantic Duty 106 Duty in the Pacific 107 Ordered to the States 111 Return to Duty, Surgery, and Convalescence 113 V CIVILIAN RESPONSIBILITIES 121 Marriage and Family 121 Digression on the Courts and the Law 125 Return to Civilian Life 127 Motivation for Service in World War II 128 Ambitions Foregone 129 VI THE LAW: PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 132 "The Hollywood Ten" 132 Liberals and the Law 134 The Police Commission 137 The Constitutionality of the Death Penalty 141 Fair-Housing Legislation 143 Integration of the Los Angeles Bar Association 151 Education for the Law 153 Launching a Law Career 155 Employers, Colleagues, and Clients 157 Work Load and Training 160 Effects of the Depression 162 Effects of the Revision of the California Corporate Law Code 162 Specialization in Law 163 Move to a New Firm 164 Relation of the Commercial to the Legal Community 166 Hiring and Training New Lawyers 168 Changes in Recruitment and Training 172 Procurement and Retention of Clients 175 Social Issues and the Practice of Law 177 Further Comment on the Police Commission 177 Advice to Prospective Lawyers 181 Rewards and Penalties of the Practice of Law 181 VII MISCELLANEOUS REFLECTIONS 185 The Death of Andy Smith 185 General Doolittle 188 Football and Football Coaches 189 Earl Warren 191 Dale Coffman 194 The Saint Thomas More Medal 195 Queen of Angels Hospital Case 197 Evelle Younger . 198 The Supreme Court of California 200 The J.D. and the Bar Examinations 201 Law Schools and Passing the Bar 206 Influences 209 Legal Contributions 210 INDEX 212 INTRODUCTION Three outstanding students graduated in June 1927 from the law school of the University of California at Berkeley, known as Boalt Hall. Roger Traynor, editor of the California Law Review, was to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California. Ray Peters, also a member of the Law Review staff, was to become Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California. Herman Selvin, associate editor of the Law Review, then and always was the lawyer. Each man was to become a major influence in the development of the law of California. Traynor and Peters have been lauded by an appreciative bar, but it is about time that someone told the world about the achievements of Herman Selvin. After fifty-one years of practice, he can boast that he has participated as lead counsel in briefs and arguments which resulted in six hundred appellate decisions from the various appellate courts of California, and the nation. Few calendars of the Supreme Court of California for Southern California for the past thirty years have been without an oral presentation by Herman Selvin. He has argued seven cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. One was Reitman v. Mulkey,* which held uncon stitutional an initiative measure which purported to give to property owners absolute discretion as to the persons to whom they desired to sell or lease their property. Mr. Selvin successfully argued that this encouraged racial discrimination in transfer of real property interests. Another was Jack Benny, Columbia Broadcasting System, as appellants, against Loew's Incorporated, as appellee,** which by a divided court affirmed a finding that * 386 U.S. 970, 18 L.Ed.2d 129, 87 S.Ct. 1157 (1967). ** 131 F.Supp. 165 (1955), 239 F.2d 532 (1956), aff'd. on certiorari, 356 U.S. A3, 2 L.Ed.2d 583, 78 S.C. 667 (1958). ii a Jack Benny parody plagiarized the moving picture Gas Light. The last argument was made in the case of McGautha v. California,* which involved the constitutionality of the death penalty statute of California. Mr. Selvin then argued principles of constitutional law which were later incorporated in concurring opinions which declared unconstitutional the death penalty statute of the State of Georgia.** Herman left Boalt Hall to become an associate with the Los Angeles firm of Loeb and Loeb . His ability for research and debate soon placed him at the head of the litigation department of that firm. He served nobly with the U.S. Navy during World War II with the rank of lieutenant commander. The approach of the end of the war found Herman in Okinawa as skipper of a supply ship. Saved from kamikaze attack, he returned to the practice of law with his old firm of Loeb and Loeb in late 1945. For the next twenty years he served as chief trial advocate and chief appellate advocate for that firm. In 1967 he became a named partner in the firm of Kaplan, Livingston, Berkowitz, Goodwin and Selvin. He continues to practice with that firm at a location in Beverly Hills. Successive governors, Warren, Knight, and Brown, offered Herman a place on the bench. Governor Pat Brown offered Herman an appointment to the Supreme Court of California. He declined judicial honors and continued with the more onerous duties required of a leader of the bar. Incisive thought and forceful writing would have made him one of the judicial greats. The same qualities gave effective advice to the judges before whom he argued. Herman Selvin' s work habits are unorthodox. He works as well at home as in the library. Propped up in bed or comfortably attired in a bathing suit beside his swimming pool, he reads transcripts, writes notes, and composes comprehensive briefs. All research and argument are recorded in his readable printing. He never dictates to a secretary. How does he do this? It is the result of experience and a fabulous memory. He describes his technique: "I write the argument leaving a space for the citation; then I go to the library and refresh my memory." Whenever lawyers or judges gather they talk of Herman's ability to recall the words of the classics: poetry, the Bible, Shakespeare, judicial aphorisms. In the late hours of a frivolous evening, he may entertain his friends with quotations from his favorite poet, Tennyson, particularly "Ulysses": "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." Justice Holmes * 402 U.S. 183, 28 L.Ed.2d 711, 91 S.Ct. 1454 (1971). ** Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238, 33 L.Ed.2d 346, 92 S.Ct. 2726 (1972). iii was his legal mentor. At seminars, his close friends have heard him quote the words from Holmes 's dissent in U.S. v. Schwimmer: "I would suggest that the Quakers have done their share to make the country what it is, that the many citizens agree with the applicants' belief, and that I had not supposed hitherto that we regretted our inability to expel them because they believed more than some of us do in the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount."* As might be expected Herman admired the judicial activists of his time, such as Holmes, Brandeis, Black, Warren, Traynor. He had less regard for the conservatives, Cardozo and Frankfurter. Anecdotes of lawyers and judges attest to Herman's effectiveness as an oral advocate. At one memorable dinner of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States described Herman's work before the court: "I see before me at the table a lawyer from California who has argued before our court several times. He talks for one hour without reference to notes. He quotes cases by name, book, and page. In reply to questions from the court, he will quote language which the questioning justice has written in another case." The late Chief Justice Warren, a close friend, praised Herman's appearances before the court: "Herman Selvin is one of the most effective advocates who has appeared before this court during my term of office.