Stanford Law School - Yearbook (Palo Alto, CA)

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Serjeants at Law: A. Levenstein, T. Flynn fPresidentj, M. Gerry, I. Iohnston, I. Petrush, A Pierce E. Wilhite. SERJEANTS AT L W According to last year's Yearbook, this or- ganization is called the Serjeant's Innfejn and began operations during the 1965-66 aca- demic year by conducting more than twelve trials held semi-annuallyf' Pj in which over 50 students participated. In fact, the humble beginnings of the organization date all the way back to 1964, and the cumulative records re- 'veal that the twelfth mock jury trial is an event which will belong to some future year. All this is not to say that the year 1966-67 has been unproductive or uneventful for the Serjeants. The present regime marked its in- ception with a well-attended inaugural ban- quet in the spring of 1966, shortly after the mock trial program was severed from the Moot Court Board's sponsorship. The new organiza- tion accepted its new name, as a mandate from above, and plunged forward into inactivity. It was, of course, the grateful recipient of all the trappings which accompany the imprimatur of the administration, including a generous bud- get and a well-equipped office in the Law Annex. The only things which the organiza- tion lacked were members, officers, advisors, cases, and the faintest idea of how to sustain itself, let alone progress, in the alien world of design and presentation of worthwhile jury trials. Although not unwilling, the Serjeants were quite unable to compromise quality for quan- tity. During the fall of 1966, they presented the successful First Annual Dj Faculty Mock Trial, United States U. Durtz, Professor Kaplan pressed eagerly for the conviction of hapless narcotics addict Larry Durtz, while San Francisco Public Defender james Hewitt and the Honorable judge Donald Constine provided the humor and Dean Keogh and Professors McDonough and Meyers served convincingly as witnesses. Somewhat stunned by this event, the Serjeants fumbled through only one additional trial dur- ing the fall term. Enthusiasm was again sparked by two excellent student trials of People v. Abbott, a clever murder case from the files of the Yale Barrister's Union, and spring term witnessed several well-executed student trials. However, any commentary on the year's ac- tivities must conclude with the observation that all was pretty much a by-product of the organization's efforts to design, for some future year, a program of mock trials derived from a file of interesting, well-tailored cases and con- ducted pursuant to carefully drafted ground- rules. Such a program is well underway and more or less guarantees the eventual success of an effective mock jury trial organization at the Stanford Law School. The interest and contribution of members of the local bench to the beginnings of this program has been sub- stantial, and as student interest and participa- tion mounts, the importance of this practical segment of the legal education will undoubt- edly be realized.

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LEGAL ID Criminal Branch. Seated I. Huhs, I. Klevens, P. Mitchell, E. Potter, W. Cottrell, I. Iennings, R. Fastov QPresidentj, M. Norek, I. Culpepper, W. Terheyden, G. Buffington, L. Aufmuth, C. Sainsbury, R. McAulay. Standing: G. Wright, I. I-Ioak, R. Shulman, L. Myers, G. Hoff, A. Mendel, A. Sherry, R. Terry, D. Brooks, R. Borass, R. Mulford, R. Emmett, I. Atwood,,B. Price, D. Blacker, P. Nicholson, D. Farmer. This year the Stanford Legal Aid Society significantly expanded its goals and the scope of its services under the supervision of Professor Iack Friedenthal. In addition to gaining meaningful practical experience by rendering daily legal assistance to the indigent and the semi-indigent, the members of the Society are experimenting with legal education programs, helping to develop effective indigenous institutions and organizations, and promoting legislative reform. Approximately 80 students participated in the activities of the Criminal Branch of the Society this year. The majority were active in the San Iose and Palo Alto Bail Bond Projects. Members of these projects interview prisoners to determine whether the prisoners have sufficient community ties to justify release on their own recognizance pending trial. The Palo Alto Project is in its second year of operation under the direction of Dan Brooks. The San Iose Project, chaired by Alan Mendel assisted by Louise Ginzburg, was an experiment to enable Santa Clara County judges to assess the feasibility of establishing a permanent project. In November the San Mateo Assistant Defenders commenced operation. This group, led by Bob Fastov, Bill Cottrell, and Larry Myers, renders assistance to lawyers appointed by the San Mateo courts to defend criminal indigent cases. The students work closely with the attorneys on all types of cases interviewing defendants and witnesses, researching problems of evidence, substance, procedure, and consti- tutional law, drafting motions and jury instructions, and assisting on court appear- ances and appellate argument. An interesting facet of this program is the practicing criminal law seminar, which is prepared and conducted solely by the Assistant De- fenders on a bi-weekly basis. Approximately 35 students participated in this yearfs Civil Branch activities. The most imaginative of the projects, the East Palo Alto Legal Services Committee, was made possible by a three year grant of funds from the American Association of Law Schools. Under the direction of Dick Kuhns and Read Ambler, the committee com- menced operation in October in the Neighborhood Legal Center in East Palo Alto. The student's daily activities are supervised by a Stanford Teaching Fellow, Roy Schmidt, who is a staff attorney in the office. In addition to interviewing clients, re- search, investigation, and drafting, it is hoped that students will shortly be making appearances before administrative boards. Bankruptcy, domestic relations, welfare, and debtor-creditor problems form the bulk of the caseload. Moreover, the members of this committee are preparing legal education and case materials which will be distributed to other law schools and, hopefully, lead to new legislation and a better understanding of the legal problems of the indigent. Most of these activities emanate from the committee's seminar on the Problems of the Poor, which allows the stu- dent to bring his practical experiences to bear upon analysis of the socio-economic foundations of poverty and the development of effective legal remedies. The prospects for continued expansion ing a record of competence and responsi- bility so that an effective case may be pre- sented for the student practice of law in indigent and semi-indigent cases. of Sta1f1fO1'd Legal Aid Society are good. It Civil Branch. Seated: R. Fastov, V. Popkin, M Sherwood R Kuhns A Mendel Standing will Continue to Seek means of establish- I. Hoak, W. Terheyden, F. Ohly, R. Farrow, R Emmett W Hoffman P Frey D Iensen E Wright, L. Anderson, W. Neukom, L. Meyers P Popovich

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Prosecutor Kaplan questions Narcotics Expert McDonough during the presentation of United States v. Durtz. Iudge Constine ponders the evidentiary problems in the background. During the course of the trial of People v. Hood, a shoplifting case, Prosecutor Tim Flynn shows a People's exhibit to a witness. V' 4 ,afar 1:35591 M W V ,,.. . t. ,V ,,-1,53 , aww wmv-4' ,,,4,,yNwf MMWWWM wwnww , swf'-935 ,, 'f'2 .lwr , x 'Q-Ts.,,,, W K . .Y p ,gig-.i,1v5r', - , - ,H 161