Volume 18, No. 4

University of Wisconsin Law School Forum ARGOYL Volume XVIII Number 4. Spring1988 It's A Different World 2 June S. Zwickey ConvocationAddresses 4 "My Exam Number Is 481!"-John Curtin "Seek Beyond the Private Life"-Anthony S. Earl "First and Foremost, Most Disputes Go Nowhere"-Prof Howard Erlanger "No, You Can't Get There That Way"-Daniel Waite Carlisle Runge Receives Distinguished Service Award 12 Chief justice Nathan S. Heffernan A Tributeto G.W.IIBill"Foster 14 Professor James E. Jones, Jr. Faculty Notes 16 Alumni Notes 17 Editor'sNote 19 Mystery Picture 19 Cover: Edward J. Reisner, Editor Postmaster's note: Please send form Spring returns to Madison, although not as Earl J. Madden, Design 3579 TO "Gargoyle," University of Wis- regularly as the swallows to Capistrano (or consin Law School, Madison, WI 53706. the buzzards to Hinkley). Lake Mendota, Publication office, Law School, near the Memorial Union. University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI. ISSN 0148-9623 USPS 768-300 Bulletin of the University of Wisconsin Law School, published quarterly. 2 It's A Different World byJune s. Zwickey June Spearbraher Zwickey ('36) wrote the following article for Wisconsin Woman mag- azine. We thought you would enjoy seeing it, comparing your Law School experiences with hers more than 50 years ago. After practicing law in Clintonville, Wisconsin, Ms. Zwickey now resides in Menasha. Whose IDEA WAS IT TO GO TO LAW SCHOOL IN 1933?Mine, I guess. It WAS NOT A BAD idea, BUT THE TIMING WAS NOT ALL THAT great. Those WERE DEPRESSION years. Though I didn't HAVE TO SELL APPLES ON THE STREET CORNER OR STAND IN LINE AT THE SOUP kitchen, TIMES WERE TOUGH AND THE LIVING lean. Most OF US HAD SOME KIND OF job. I WORKED part-time IN ladies' LINGERIE AT Kessnich's. I THOUGHT IT A BIT IRONIC THAT A tall, SKINNY FEMALE LIKE myself, WITH PRACTICALLY NO bosom, SHOULD BE TRYING TO SELL bras. I DESCRIBE THIS ECONOMIC SITUATION BECAUSE I THINK IT ACCOUNTS AT LEAST par- TIALLY FOR THE ATTITUDES IN LAW SCHOOL dur- ING THAT era. The IMPORTANT WORDS WERE "care" AND "share." We SHARED knowl- edge, BOOKS food, clothing, EVEN lodging. When Mike, A good-natured BUT NOT VERY PRACTICAL Irishman, WAS UNABLE TO PAY HIS rent, HE WAS evicted. For ABOUT THREE weeks, UNTIL HE COULD FIND A NEW PLACE AND SCROUNGE UP ENOUGH MONEY TO PAY FOR it, HE "slept around:' Today IT IS different. The KEY WORDS SEEM TO BE "specialization" AND "compe- tition:' The POLITICAL AND CORPORATE struc- TURE IN today's BUSINESS WORLD HAS acce- lerated. We WERE INTERESTED PRIMARILY IN BECOMING RESPECTABLY GOOD LAWYERS ENGAGING IN A SUFFICIENTLY LUCRATIVE pri- VATE practice. We WERE TAUGHT BY THE "case method:' Each DAY A CERTAIN num- BER OF Supreme Court DECISIONS WERE CAREERS IN midstream. Many OF US ARE The FIRST COUPLE OF WEEKS WERE some- ASSIGNED AND DISCUSSED IN class. Differ- MARRIED AND SOME HAVE children. Con- WHAT uncomfortable. Four GIRLS WERE con- ENCES OF OPINION BY STUDENTS RELATIVE TO SEQUENTLY THERE IS NOT THE SAME per- SPICUOUS AMONG FOUR HUNDRED fellows. THE VALIDITY OF EACH DECISION HAD TO BE spective. However, WHEN IT BECAME APPARENT THAT substantiated. Today,I understand, THE Entering LAW SCHOOL IN 1933TOOK SOME WE WERE ALL THERE TO learn, THAT THE GIRLS TEXTBOOK AND LECTURE METHODS ARE used. COURAGE ON MY part. I WAS A RATHER shy, WERE NOT THERE PRIMARILY TO SNARE A hus- Office PRACTICE COURSES ALSO ARE OFFERED IN small-town GIRL WHOSE FIRST TWO YEARS OF band, AND THAT WE DID NOT FALL OVER IN A SCHOOL now. We DID OUR OFFICE PRACTICE COLLEGE WERE SPENT A Milwaukee Downer DEAD FAINT AT THE USE OF four-letter words, DURING THE SUMMER SERVING AN INTERNSHIP College, AN all-girls' school. The LAST TWO THE ATMOSPHERE BECAME MORE relaxed. IN THE OFFICE OF A PRACTICING attorney. YEARS I WENT TO Lawrence, A SMALL PRIVATE The LAW BUILDING ITSELF WAS NOT MUCH Age IS ALSO AN INFLUENCING factor. Most college. The University OF Wisconsin WAS OF AN EDIFICE IN THOSE days. The WOODEN OF US WERE IN OUR EARLY 20's. TodayTHE A LARGE PUBLIC institution, AND Madison STEPS AND FLOORS WERE WELL worn. The AGE RANGE IS wide. Many WORK SEVERAL WAS A COMPARATIVELY BIG city. Law SCHOOL BANISTERS AND WOODWORK NEEDED varnish, YEARS PRIOR TO ENTERING IN ORDER TO FINANCE WAS A PREDOMINANTLY MALE ENVIRONMENT AND THE REST ROOMS LEFT MUCH TO BE THEIR ADDITIONAL schooling. Some CHANGE THAT INTIMIDATED me. desired. On THE FIRST FLOOR WERE THE dean's 3 OFFICE AND CLASSROOMS WITH DISREPUTABLE BUBBLEHEADS AND COULD COMPREHEND THE IF WE DID NOT LIVE UP TO HER expectations. desks. On THE SECOND FLOOR WAS THE INTRICACIES OF contracts, wills, conveyanc- She INSISTED A LAWYER WAS FIRST AND fore- LIBRARY AND MORE CLASSROOMS WITH enor- ing, etc., WE BECAME JUST FOUR OF THE 400, MOST A scholar, AND SHE WANTED THINGS MOUS blackboards. Lockers AND THE AND THERE WAS NO DISCRIMINATION AS FAR AS DONE IN A PROPER fashion. I REMEMBER A LOUNGE OCCUPIED THE LOWER level. ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADES WERE concerned. LARGE SIGN SHE ONCE POSTED ON THE BULLETIN At THE BEGINNING OF THE FIRST SEMESTER One professor, A VERY STAID AND PROPER BOARD WHICH READ SOMETHING LIKE this: THERE SEEMED TO BE AN UNSPOKEN RULE gentleman, RESENTED US AT first. When HE THAT THE LOUNGE WAS OFF LIMITS TO females. CALLED ON PEOPLE IN CLASS HE ADDRESSED When YOU WERE FINALLY ASKED TO JOIN THE THEM AS "Mr." OR "Miss!' Deep DOWN GROUP there, YOU KNEW YOU HAD IT made- INSIDE HE WAS A MALE CHAUVINIST AND YOU WERE accepted. It WAS A cold, uninvit- HE ALMOST CHOKED ON THE WORD "Miss." IJAttention:IN RE Dean's Reception ING PLACE WITH CRUMMY FURNITURE LITTERED He RESOLVED THIS BY CALLING EVERYONE BY -All MALE STUDENTS ATTENDING MUST WITH books, papers, FULL ashtrays, AND HIS OR HER LAST NAME AND OMITTING THE EMPTY bottles, BUT IT WAS THERE THAT THE honorific. WEAR TIES AND SUITS WITH vests. PROBLEMS OF THE WORLD WERE solved- Another PROFESSOR WAS A small, ELDERLY - All FEMALE STUDENTS ATTENDING legal, political, AND personal. The DEBATES MAN WITH A PASSION FOR THE ladies. He AND CONVERSATIONS RANGED FROM DEADLY USED TO FOLLOW US INTO THE STACKS IN THE MUST WEAR A HAT AND gloves:' SERIOUS TO UTTERLY ridiculous. LIBRARY HOPING FOR AN OPPORTUNITY TO Walking UP THE HILL TO THE LAW SCHOOL MAKE A pass. Inevitably A MALE STUDENT WE HAD TO PASS THE ENGINEERING building. WOULD FOLLOW HIM AND FOIL HIS attempts. There WAS GREAT RIVALRY BETWEEN LAW stu- Today THESE INCIDENTS PROBABLY WOULD In THE CORNER AT THE BOTTOM SOMEONE DENTS AND ENGINEERING students. They PROVOKE A CHARGE OF SEXUAL harassment. HAD scribbled, "Also POLISH SHOES OR WERE ALWAYS HECKLING ONE another. The We MERELY JOKED ABOUT HIS PROCLIVITY AND BEWARE OF Mertz!" In SPITE OF HER MORE ENGINEERS DECIDED TO STAND OUT IN FROM OF MADE FUN OF him. OR LESS TYRANNICAL RULE WE ALL LOVED AND THEIR BUILDING AND MAKE OBSCENE REMARKS No ASSESSMENT OF THE ATMOSPHERE IN RESPECTED her-she WAS A MOTHER figure. DIRECTED AT THE FEMALE LAW STUDENTS walk- LAW SCHOOL IN the' 30s WOULD BE COMPLETE It WAS AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT WORLD then. ING UP THE hill. When THE MALE LAW stu- WITHOUT REFERENCE TO Miss Mertz. She WAS I WOULD SAY THAT IN MY LAW SCHOOL DAYS DENTS DISCOVERED THIS THEY ENGAGED THE THE VOICE OF AUTHORITY IN THE dean's office. MALE AND FEMALE STUDENTS ENJOYED A VERY ENGINEERS IN A COUPLE OF BOUTS OF fisti- The DEAN WAS A QUIET INTELLECTUAL WITH SPECIAL CAMARADERIE THAT THEY PROBABLY cuffs. This PUT AN END TO SUCH shenani- SUPERLATIVE SKILLS IN NEGOTIATION AND WOULD NEVER EXPERIENCE again. gans. Male LAW STUDENTS WERE VERY pro- diplomacy, UNLIKE Miss Mertz. She WAS A At Homecoming, THE would-be-lawyers TECTIVE OF THEIR own. BIG WOMAN WITH A LOUD voice. She CARRIED ENGAGED IN THEIR TRADITIONAL RITUAL OF And WHAT WERE THE LAW professors' A BIG STICK BUT DID NOT SPEAK softly. We THROWING THEIR CANES OVER THE GOAL POST AT ATTITUDES TOWARDS FEMALE students? As HAD TO GET OUR GRADES FROM HER AND SHE THE STADIUM AND IT REALLY didn't MATTER SOON AS THEY DISCOVERED THAT WE weren't WAS NOT ABOVE GIVING A VOCIFEROUS LECTURE WHOSE CANE WENT THE farthest. 4 Convocation Addresses On May 14,1988, some two hundred AND fifty members OF the Class OF 1988 will JOIN more than 12,000 other alumni OF this Law School. In recent years, thanks largely to the efforts OF the students themselves, gradua- tion has AGAIN BECOME AN important event, ONE IN which most students will actively participate. After exams, AND perhaps before the par- ties, our students will cross the stage, shake hands with dignitaries, AND receive their diplomas. But IN addition they will attend A convocation that they, themselves, have organized. Since 1981, the senior class has invited prominent attorneys, respected faculty, AND members OF their own class to speak to them ON the eve OF their entry into the profession. We are reprinting here four OF the recent speeches delivered at the last two convoca- tions. They contain serious messages, which apply to ALL graduates; AND some messages that are not so serious, but who said that "the law" cannot BE entertaining. My Exam Number is 481! world I want to do is give a lecture on Maxwell House coffee. In short, I have John M. Curtin, Class OF 1987 law to a group of semi-intoxicated former become a third-year law student.

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