Maynard Pirsig

Minnesota Supreme Court photo, 1942.

Maynard E. Pirsig, LLD, legal scholar, was born in 1902 on a farm near Elmore, Minnesota, on the Minnesota-Iowa border, speaking only German during his childhood. He went on to study law at the University of Minnesota Law School, married Harriet Sjobeck, and soon became a leading reformer in the field of law. He championed civil rights, the Equal Rights Amendment, abolishment of the death penalty ("an imperfect system should not be lethal"), Planned Parenthood, a juvenile court system, rehabilitation programs for prison inmates, and fair access to the law regardless of income. Appointed head of the Minnesota Legal Aid Society, and appointed Minnesota State Supreme Court justice, he also served as Dean of the University of Minnesota Law School. In 1934 Pirsig wrote the book Judicial Administration, now a United States Supreme Court reference book, which Pirsig used for sixty years of teaching students how work with and improve the judicial system.

A quote from Pirsig's book, Cases and Materials on Legal Ethics, 1949, "The lawyer's duty is of a double character. He owes to his client the duty of fidelity, but he also owes the duty of good faith and honorable dealing to judicial tribunals before whom he practices his profession. He is an officer of the court--a minister in the temple of justice."

He defined "Legal Ethics," in Encyclopedia Britannica, 1974 edition.

Maynard and Harriet's son, is the author Robert M. Pirsig.

Teaching career

The University of Minnesota Law School awarded Pirsig a scholarship to study at Harvard Law School in 1932, while he was still a student. There, Dean Roscoe Pound, and later to be U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, sent Pirsig to Middle Temple Inn in London for a year to study and gather material to write Judicial Administration, 1946, which gave birth to a new subject in the field of law.[1] "...students thus equipped with a challenging attitude, a reformer's zeal for ideal solutions, and a full arsenal of possibilities for innovations would continue to confront the judicial system with challenges to ever more humane conduct that alone will guarantee it's continuing legitimacy," Charles W. Wolfram,[2]

To view a photo Pirsig took of Middle Temple Hall in 1933, click here .

Pirsig wrote one of the earliest and most widely used U.S. course books on legal ethics, of that period, Cases and Materials on Legal Ethics, 1949.

In the mid 1980's, drawing from his early experience in London, Pirsig helped to develop and teach Comparative Judicial Administration for William Mitchell College of Law's "Summer in London" program, with Professor Robert E. Oliphant, Professor Eric S. Janus, and Professor Michael Zander, at Regents University, London.

University of Minnesota Law School 1933-1970

Beginning in 1934, at the University of Minnesota Law School, Pirsig originated the course Judicial Administration, which he taught throughout his career, a course that strove to encompass all subjects - from justice and precedence, to trial techniques and the organization of the courts - pertinent to developing well rounded lawyers.[3] He also taught courses on pleading, ethics and criminal law.

When he was Dean of the Law School, 1948 - 1955, Pirsig recruited ten new faculty members. Most were, or became, pillars in the world of legal scholarship, including Charles Alan Wright, Michael I. Sovern, David Louisell, Jesse Dukeminier, and librarian Leon Liddell. Pirsig managed an expansion of the school, including the library. He developed a training program at the law school, for professionals in delinquency control which trained police and judges on how to utilize the American Juvenile Justice System - a system Maynard had been instrumental in introducing to the state.[4] He managed a difficult period of post-war transition and growth at UMLS, "But, traditions of excellence were maintained and the foundation was laid for more productive future years."[5] Pirsig resigned his position as Dean in 1955, and returned to teaching full time.[6]

Professor Pirsig retired from the University of Minnesota Law School due to its mandatory retirement age, then 68.[6]

• Recipient of the University of Minnesota Outstanding Achievement Award, 1985.[7]

• Mondale Hall houses the Maynard E. Pirsig Lecture Hall, which includes an oil painting of Maynard.

• Maynard Pirsig Moot Court: click here

• Pirsig's Will contained a substantial gift to UMLS to return Judicial Administration to the curriculum as a stand alone course - which it was for a number of years.

Mitchell Hamline School of Law 1970-1993

After his mandatory retirement from UMLS, Mitchell Hamline School of Law immediately hired Pirsig to their faculty. Then 68, Pirsig requested that he not be tenured, so he could be easily released him from his position if required—he taught until age 91. Here, he taught Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Professional Responsibility, and Comparative Judicial Administration.

He helped to develop and teach the Comparative Judicial Administration course for William Mitchell College of Law's "Summer in London" program, with Professor Robert E. Oliphant and Professor Eric S. Janus of William Mitchell. Maynard taught the course in London and Saint Paul, from 1988 - 1991.[6] In London the course was taught together with the English professor Michael Zander.

Maynard Pirsig and Randall Tietjen co-authored, Court Procedure and the Separation of Powers in Minnesota, 15 WM. MITCHELL L. REv. 141. 1989.

Mitchell Hamline bestowed an honorary doctorate degree upon Maynard, 1981.

Pirsig made a donation for the construction of the Warren E. Burger Law Library,[8] housing the Maynard E. Pirsig Study Hall, where sits a vitrine displaying Maynard's legal and personal memorabilia—including his 1946 U of M lectures recorded onto SoundScriber vinyl discs.

Minnesota Supreme Court

At the age of 40, Pirsig served as an interim justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court. He was appointed by Governor Harold Stassen. Pirsig served for only a few months, but wrote more than a dozen opinions, several of which later became important legal precedents.[4]

A summary of opinions written by Maynard E. Pirsig can be seen at this link: click here.

Selected achievements

  • Executive director of the Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid Society. 1926 - 1931
  • Secretary of the Minnesota Judicial Council, which studied the organization and procedures of the courts. 1937 - 1952.
  • Chairman of the Minnesota State Bar Association committee to study the American Law Institute's Youth Conservation Act[6] 1943
  • Chairman of the Advisory Committee of the Minnesota Division of Employment and Security, 1945 - 1956, responsible for the development and administration of Minnesota's employment security program.[6]
  • Member of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Law.[3] His 30 year tenure as a member of the conference included service in many capacities, such as chairman of committees for uniform acts in arbitration, expunging criminal records, juvenile court, and rules of criminal procedure.[6] 1947 - 1977.
  • Member of the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 1951 - 1957.[6]
  • Chairman, Juvenile Court Committee. 1953 - 1958
  • Member, U.S. Department of Labor's Industry Committee for Puerto Rico. Beginning in 1955, later chairman for four years.
  • Reporter for the special legislative advisory committee created to prepare a revision of the Minnesota Criminal Code. 1957.
  • Member, U.S Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, 1960 - 1970.
  • Reviewed and Advised on the Indonesian judicial system for their government, during a three month visit with James F. Hogg, 1968.
  • Consultant to the Minnesota Supreme Court's Committee on Rules of Criminal Procedure. 1971 - 1990.
  • Pirsig (MEP) authored the definition of Legal Ethics, in ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA. 1974
  • Member, Minnesota Supreme Court's Commission on Juvenile Courts. 1976
  • Lectured on judicial administration to the Supreme Court of El Salvador. 1991
Meeting on Lake Lougee, MN, 1957, of a special legislative advisory committee created to prepare a revision of the Minnesota criminal code. Pictured, Left to Right, William P. Murphy(?), Oscar Knutson, Harold Schultz, Joseph Bright, Maynard Pirsig, Bruce Stone (?). Photo courtesy of Mitchell Hamline School of Law, Warren E. Burger Library

Publications

Maynard E. Pirsig was a prolific writer. Many of his publications were about how to improve the judicial system. A list of his publications can be seen at this link: click here

Awards and honors

  • Herbert Lincoln Harley Award from the American Judicature Society, for outstanding contributions to the improvement of the administration of justice, 1973.
  • Honorary doctorate degree (LLD) from William Mitchell College of Law, 1981
  • Outstanding Achievement Award, University of Minnesota Law School, 1985. At the time, the only father and son (Robert M. Pirsig, awarded 1975) conferred with individual awards.
  • William Mitchell College of Law establishes the Pirsig Distinguished Lecturer Series, 1987
  • The University of Minnesota Law School Moot Court title, "Maynard Pirsig Moot Court."

Events of Interest

While Dean of UMLS, Pirsig publicly urged the university to expel fraternities and sororities that had racial "bias clauses" in their charters or constitutions, 1957.[6]

Pirsig helped draft a bill to revise the Minnesota State Criminal Code. Although some officials believed that it was too lenient and hampered law enforcement, it was passed in 1965.[4]

Education

Pirsig earned a bachelor's degree in 1923 from the University of Minnesota, and an LL.B degree in 1925 from the University of Minnesota Law School. He attended graduate courses in law at Harvard University from 1931-1932, studying under Roscoe Pound and Felix Frankfurter.[6] During 1932-1933, on a UMLS scholarship implemented by Pound and Frankfurter, as preparation for developing a course in judicial administration, Pirsig spent one year in England with his wife Harriet and son Robert, studying at Middle Temple Hall.[6]

Personal life

Pirsig was born in 1902 in Kossuth County, Iowa, to Gustav and Amelia Pirsig. He was raised on his parents' farm, speaking only German until he began attending school. Following a courtship of several years, he married Harriet Sjobeck in 1925.[6] They raised three children, Robert, Jean and Wanda.[9]

Minneapolis home, 1932–1995, where Maynard and Harriet Pirsig lived and raised their three children, Robert, Jean and Wanda. Son, Robert Pirsig, author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, had the bedroom with the front, left window on the second floor.

Sources

  1. ↑ Wright, Charles Alan (1997). "Maynard E. Pirsig". William Mitchell Law Review.
  2. ↑ Wolfram, Charles W. (1970). "Maynard E. Pirsig: Idealism in the Service of Judicial Administration". Cornell Law Library.
  3. 1 2 Thompson, Jessica (2007). "Minnesota's Legal Hall of Fame". Minnesota Law and Politics.
  4. 1 2 3 Chanen, David (1997). "oldest law school teacher in U.S., dies" (PDF). Minnesota Star Tribune.
  5. ↑ Stein, Robert A. (1980). In Pursuit of Excellence. Minnesota: Mason Publishing. p. 127.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Tietjen, Randall (1997). "Maynard Pirsig: A Chronology". William Mitchell Law Review. 23 (4).
  7. ↑ "Outstanding Achievement Award Recipients". University of Minnesota.
  8. ↑ Hogg, James F. (1997). "Maynard Pirsig". William Mitchell Law Review. 23 (4).
  9. ↑ "Robert M. Pirsig". It Happened in History. American Society of Authors and Writers. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
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