Repository: UIHistories Project: Dedication - College of Education Dedication [PAGE 14]

EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:

As thus conceived, my assignment is to spin the thread of destiny for our Law School, but as I spin I shall talk, not sing, about the future. And lest my story be viewed as one wholly imaginative, I shall start from the known past of the School as related by Professor Goble, and from the present, and from these premises venture into the future. T h e Law School did not come into being, as did Minerva spring from the brain of Jupiter, "mature, and in complete armour." T h e idea of establishing a law school as a division of the University of Illinois was conceived, with the blessing of Governor John Peter Altgeld, by President Andrew S. Draper. I t was a puny institution and its growth in educational and economic resources, during the first years of its existence, came haltingly. We must not, however, speak disparagingly of this period. From the very beginning of the School, its staff sought to keep abreast in teaching and scholarship of the best standards of that time. I n its adherence to that course the School has never faltered, and as the years moved on, it developed more rapidly in resources, in the expansion of its educational program, and in the gaining of self-respect. It is difficult to determine at what time in the School's evolution it reached the status of one of the nation's ranking law schools. This came about gradually with the growth in number and distinction of its staff, the imaginative expansion of its educational program, the increasing number and professional standing of its alumni, and the advancing maturity and professional proficiency of its student body. Thus, recognition came to the School and with recognition of its standing came respect for its educational stature. This is a mere resume of discernible facts in the history of the Law School. But our perspective would be unduly confined if mention were not made of other factors. T h e Law School is an integral part of the University of Illinois — a university which in the past has had to devote much of its energies and resources to allaying recurring attacks of growing pains, but which, notwithstanding, is exhibiting increasing signs, now in this department and again in another, of eminence in teaching and research. T h e University is a state university located in and drawing support from one of the greatest industrial and agricultural states of the Union. These are facts and what is even more significant, these are potentials with which we should reckon as we look into the future. Here are the source materials with which to spin the thread of destiny. And as I spin, what does the thread reveal about the future of the Law School? We can foresee a future for legal education in which the law schools of America by virtue of the strategic posi-

tion they occupy in relation to the profession and the law, will perform services of increasing value to the profession and to society. I speak of developments which our Law School has envisioned and as to some of which it already has done pioneering work, though our programs in these areas are still imperfect and our view of the goals is yet unclear. What are the ends of legal education? In describing them I should mention first our immediate task — that of preparing students for the practice of law. A law school staff must, indeed, devote its attention to the development of its professional courses. It is the responsibility of a law school to prepare its students for the tasks of the profession — to instruct them in the learning of the law and to train them, insofar as a school can, in the skills of the craft. But a law school has wider responsibilities. It should inculcate its students with an understanding of the function of law in the social order and in relation thereto, with an understanding of the role of the profession. A law school should endeavor to inspire consciousness in its students of the highest traditions of the profession and of the profession's responsibilities for the rational development of the law in its substance and in its administration. This, the schools are attempting to do and some are doing it well. Even so, I venture to say, the schools have not yet caught a full vision of the vast potentialities for service that lie within their grasp. What are these potentials?" And what implications do they have for our Law School? Here once more we must return to the known past and the known present and with the materials they provide, seek to unveil the future. The American people subscribe to the idea that ours is a government of law. In the fitful evolution of ideas about government, the concept of the rule of law projects the most promising environment for maturing and developing human freedom and welfare. But this idea presupposes a legal order that governs well. Here we encounter a difficulty of far-reaching import. It is a known fact that we are not keeping our legal house in order; we have permitted the machinery of justice to become clogged. "True justice," stressed Judge Peck of New York recently, "is timely justice. The figures measuring, trial delay in city courts across the country proclaim that justice has ceased to be timely." Legal procedures should be conceived as devices for eliciting the truth, but too often we have permitted them to become ends in themselves, culminating in legalistic skirmishes and undue delays in the administration of justice. Clearly, a simplification of our procedures and of our judicial structure is indicated.

Our substantive law, too, urgently demands attention. In the rapidly changing economic, social, and political scene, the law has grown like Topsy. In consequence our substantive law has become a vast area of confusion, consisting of an ever-increasing number of judicial decisions and a mounting mass of statutory and administrative law. A basic need of our time is to bring order out of this chaos — to establish the law on the firm foundation of a system. But who is to perform this monumental task? Obviously it is a task never-ending — one that would require of those who undertake it much industry, high scholarship, and great devotion to public service. It is this prospect that has prompted discerning judges and lawyers to advocate the establishment of a ministry of justice. "The duty must be cast on some man or group of men," said Justice Cardozo, "to watch the law in action, observe the manner of its functioning, and report the changes needed when function is deranged." Who is to perform this task? T h e challenge, issued by some of the leaders of our profession, is that the law schools accept this responsibility. And what a magnificent prospect this challenge holds for the schools! It recognizes implicitly that legal scholarship centers today in the law schools and that they are in a position to equip themselves for this great task. The school that accepts it should ordinarily view the undertaking as one encompassing only the laws of the state in which it is located. The legal system of a state should be looked upon as an operational unit. The personnel of the ministry should not be restricted to the staff of the school. A ministry of justice should be made up of dedicated men from the bench and bar and from the teaching profession. Groups so constituted are the best working teams. The law school should be the center from which programs of law revision and improvement are generated. Under this conception the school would furnish the environment for these undertakings, provide scholarship for them, and give unity, continuity, and comprehensiveness to them. This is the thread of destiny for our Law School. The prospect is one of constructive service to the profession and the public. The members of our staff have already envisioned this prospect and some of their research is being directed toward that goal. Here lies the opportunity to bring their research to a rewarding fruition. It is a call to assume a significant role in shaping the path of the law toward what the law ought to be — toward making the law a living instrument of justice. The task is an onerous one but if undertaken and executed with fidelity, no finer service than this can men perform for their fellow-men. Albert J. Harno