Notre Dame Law School NDLScholarship Dooley's Dictum Law School History 4-5-1971 Dooley's Dictum, Vol. 1, no. 09 Notre Dame Law School Student Bar Association Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/dooleys_dictum Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Notre Dame Law School Student Bar Association, "Dooley's Dictum, Vol. 1, no. 09" (1971). Dooley's Dictum. Paper 5. http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/dooleys_dictum/5 This Newsletter is brought to you for free and open access by the Law School History at NDLScholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dooley's Dictum by an authorized administrator of NDLScholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. }\ Newspape~ of, by and for the· Fighting I fl.sh La~'.y-~';1'71 of Notre Dame Vol. 1 No. 9 Notre Dame, Indiana · APR 6 r<u April 5, 1971 "Tort KIDg'' By Tom Dovidio Dictum Co-editor Described as "the King of Torts" by Life Magazine, Melvin M. Belli will be presented to the N otr.e Dame Law students and faculty on April 23. With him comes the reputation of the world's most renowned trial attorney in tort cases. Belli is the· senior partner of Belli Ashe Ellison Choulos and Lief with offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, \ and San Diego, Rome, and Tokyo. \ The firm's home office in San Fran· \ cisco is a State of California Historical Monument and is reputed to have been converted from a one-time beer tavern. Belli was born in 1907 in California's gold rush' country of rugged fron­ tier parentage·· Wh~le he divides his family life chiefly between San Francisco and Los Angeles, the world is literally Belli's court room. 1 ' His legal career.has run the gamut of representation, his clients have in­ cluded Marie McDonald, Mae West, John Carroll, Errol Flynn, Tony Curtis, Jack Ruby, and Mickey Cohen and several causes of the Grand Canyon Air Famed California attorney Melvin Belli Crash, cancer-cigarette causation, Cal­ Poly air crash involving its football team, San Quentin prison break, and Dakota--$500,000; Nevada--$225,000; law· and trial preparation arid Bracerco cases. and Montana-$183,000. techniques. His particular expertise is Belli's reputation has grown in direct Belli represents the flamboyant in the area of demonstrative evidence· proportion to the size of jury awards attorney, bedecked in the finest attire, and medical malpractice.Indeed, his granted to his clients .. He has .been in and with a flair for melodrama in the knowledge of medicine rivalS that of over one hundred cases in which the courtroom. Often controversial in his many doctors. award has exceeded $100,000. He has approach, his trial methods are con­ With demonstrative evidence, Belli won record awards in California-­ currently praised and attacked. He is has virtually revolutionized the law. $675,000;. Alaska--162,000; Maine-­ quick to point out, however, that the One key example was a piece of brown $150,000; Texas--$900,000; North aspiring attorney must be willing to wrapping paper fashioned into the · sacrifice long hours to research in the shape of a mutilated leg. Ask Belli law library. Belli once stated, "Show about the background of this case, and .Inside Today mea young lawyer spending his Friday the size of the award granted his client·· Dean Shaffer .. · .............. Page 2 and Saturday .nights in the library, and it's the most interesting story! I'll show you a future successful at­ Belli is also the founder and Law School Structure ......... Page 4 torney." moderator of the internationally famed Belli is being presented to the law annual Belli Seminars. This series Opinion ............................. Page 6 school by Gray's Inn. He will appear in presents the Belli Foundation Lectures the law·school during the afternoon of · offered at the major law schools in­ Henry Rothblatt .................. Page 7 April 23 for informal disc::ussion and to cludipg Notre Dame, Virginia, UCLA, visit classes. .That evening he will Yale, and Harvard. · · Retort .............................. Page 7 lecture on "The Law Revolution" in the Copies of Belli's new paperback "The Memorial Library Auditorium. · Law Revolution" are available at the William Kuntsler .............. Page 8 Belli 's impact on the law has gone far bookstore. Mr. Belli has assured Gray's Kommissioner's beyond his courtroom experiences. He Inn he would be most happy to Korner .............................. Page 8 has authored some twenty books on tort autograph copies, if any are so desired. 1 -\ v,~ ljQ'· \\)~·iU ~-.~:.{. -~ ~; ~.});_H3~'-t~li\'~l\li&tfiF\!J~~-;-;:;~~~;;t ;;~;,;~~)~l~i-~b~t.~~\1~t~~1i¥i~:$Ri~~.,_~~!r"~~-;.,·- >:1 '<~-~-~· ~~~-.... -~ .. ~d ·: -~ ·.1i·· ~~-- -~----·-:----~~'-'7· .. ~ · Shaffer named new law dean · Will take office July 1 By Bob Lueck and Wayne Weiler At the meeting with students, Shaffer development of a lawyer's ability to The search for a new dean for the said that . he would support further counsel people in one-on-one en­ Notre Dame Law School is over. discussion and investigation of many of counters. Associate Dean Thomas L. Shaffer was the students' suggestions concerning Shaffer observed that for the first appointed last week by Notre Dame new policies on registration, placement time in the 102-year history of the Law President Rev. Theodore M. Hesburg to services, student participation on School a dean had been picked from the take over the position of William B. faculty committees, summer law school's own ranks. Heindicatedthat his Lawless last january. school at the University, and further major work would center around more Shaffer, presently on a leave of ab­ school at the University, and innovations in. the process of legal sence from Notre Dame at UCLA Law development of further scholarship education He said that he would School , will begin his new duties on resources. probably spend most of his time at July 1. The proposed ne'w law center, he Notre Dame and that he did not intend After graduating cum lautle from the said, "was not a terribly important extensive travels during his term as Notre Dame Law,School in 1961, Shaffer issue in the short run. We have a lot of dean. returned to join the faculty in 1963 living to do now." The funds available A member of several legal and following two years as a member of the for the project are not what they were community organizations, Shaffer has Indianpolis law firm of Barnes Hickam anticipated to be and more thought will also written widely. His published Pantzer and Boyd. He was appointed as have to be given to the whole project. works include several law review ar­ a full professor in 1966 and as associate In response to a question about the ticles, two locally published casebooks, dean in 1969. growing demand for legal education, and a book, Death, Property and Shaffer learned of his appointmen~ Shaffer responded by noting that the Lawyers, to be published this month by last week. He returned to Notre Dame pressure is likely to be on the state the University Press of Cambridge. this past weekend to meet with faculty universities to grow in size. "That is the and students of the Law School. one advantage of a private school," he Approximately thirty law students said. "It has the right to decide what it Election wins: greeted the new dean Saturday. A wants to be and doesn't have the public major portion of the afternoon was duty that a state university sometimes spent in informal discussion concerning has to perform." Hartzer takes the problems and resources of the Law Shaffer indicated he was anxious to School. Dean-designate Shaffer did not return to Notre Dame because of the top SBA post indicate any hard and fast solutions to "people-centered atmosphere of the Tim Hartzer has been elected to the questions of students but exhibited a place." As an educator, he favors the great deal of familiarity and conviction become the next president of the humanistic approach to the training of Student Bar Association. His election, toward the Law School and its com­ attorneys which emphasizes the munity. announced Saturday by Elections Commissioner Paul Binder, was over two other candidates for the post. Binder also announced the winners in all but two of the races. The vote margin was too narrow for winners to :~$;~'!~ be decided in the. races for SBA .; I . secretary and 3L class vice president. ( ' The results of those elections will be announced once the vote count from the London students is added in. Joining Hartzer on the SBA executive board will be vice president Jessalyn Pendarvis, treasurer John Nelly, and ABA-LSD representative Larry Mentz. The new 3L class president will be Denis Hauptly. Chris Schraff will be the secretary-treasurer. Mike Bradley won the 2L class presidency over two contenders while Ralph Pelaia is the new v-p. Don Swanson ran unopposed for secretary- treasurer. .·· · The reason for the undecided races is the size of the vote count between tlte candidates. In order to win election on i' the first vote count, a condidate had to be ahead of his opponent by more than 27 votes, 27 being the number of law 1 students currently in London. When the votes from the London students are received, they will be f added in the tentative vote figures, the final winners determined and the final Dean-designate Thomas L. Shaffer vote £jgures announc.ed. A Newspaper of, by and for the Fighting Irish Lawyers of Notre Dame Notre Dame, Indiana Competency: key to effectiveness By Bob Lueck This examination was made with the year, especially with the issues of Dictum Co-editor cooperation and comment of SBA required hours for graduation and the President Steve Boone.