University of Nebraska College of Law - Yearbook (Lincoln, NE)

Page 36 text:

5011. gran!-1 Krnine Hon. Frank Irvine, of Omaha, who is the lecturer on Damages, is among the youngest men in the faculty. He was born in Sharon, Pa., September 15, 1858. In that state he spent his ear- lier years. These years must have been profitably spent for in 1880 he graduated from Cornell with the degree of A.B. Three years later he took the degree of LLB. at the National Univer- sity at Washington, D. C. He was then almost twenty-five years old and began his practice. Success seems to have followed him closely. From 1891 to 1893 he was district judge, and in 1893 he was chosen Supreme Court Commissioner, which position he still occupies. He is a rather small, delicate appearing man with none of the adipose tissue supposed to be essential in judges and legal lumi- naries. His voice. is appealing and persuasive. He evidently seeks to mould the opinions of his hearers by the logical force of his arguments and not after the manner of Aaron Burr who said 4' law is a proposition boldly set forth and plausibly maintained W. His opinions are highly esteemed for their nicety of discrimi- nation and keenness of analysis. Being thoroughly prepared for the practice of his chosen profession and with a natural bent to the solution of the problems afforded the judge, his opinions are logical, accurate, and of such a character as to reiect great credit upon the bar of the state. '

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fi . . . L 'L s. ., '89, A . Sit JUDGE SAMUEL MAXWVELL ' 29 About the year 1870 he organized the First National Bank of Plattsmouth, with which institution he was connected for some time. In April, 1871, he was elected from Cass, county to the second Constitutional Convention, which met in Lincoln in May of that year, and continued in session until the following September. He was chairman of the Committee on Suffrage, and was one of the Commissioners appointed by the Legislature to collect the 872,000 insurance for the burned Asylum at Lincoln, and adopt plans and erect a new building. In 1872 he was elected to the Supreme Court on the Republican ticket. The judges at that time were also judges of the District Courts, and Judge Maxwell was assigned by the Legislature to the third district-then comprising all the territory north of the Platte river except Douglas and Sarpy counties. In o1'der to be more accessible to his district he moved to Fremont in 1873, where he has since resided. ' He was elected from Dodge county in 1875 to the third Con- stitutional Convention, and was chairman of the Judiciary Com- mittee. In the following October he was elected judge of the Supreme Court for the six-year term under the new constitution, and was again elected in 1881 and-,188t7r Judge Maxwell has also been an industrious author on the sub- ject of Procedure, and his works are authority in all the Code states. In 1877 he prepared a digest of the Nebraska Reports, and in 1879 published the first edition of his Practice in Lzsticc Charts, which has now reached the sixth edition. In 1880 he published Pleacliag and Practice, which has also reached the sixth edition. He published Ctaimiaal ltioccclurc in 1887, which has since passed another edition, and in 1892 his work on 6bcZe Plead- -ing was published. He was elected Representative to Congress in 1896 on the Free Silver ticket. ' '- , 4 For several years he has held the chair of Lecturer on Code Pleading in the College of Law. Although Judge Maxwell has passed his three-score years and ten, he is still alert and aciijve and is an indefatigable worker.

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jubge ID. 5. munger y It is a compliment to the discrimination of the faculty of the College of Law, that a man who was chosen from among the members of the bar of the state to lecture on Municipal Corpora- tions should 'be later appointed to the eminent position now occu- pied by Mr. Munger. Williain Henry Munger was born in Bergen, N. Y., September 12, 1845. He spent his earlier years there and later studied law in Cleveland, Ohio. For many years he has practiced law in Ne- braska, his home being in Fremont. That he occupied a promi- nent position in that community is evidenced by the fact that he was chosen as a member of the Constitutional convention held in 187 5. . He has never been at any time a politician, being content to practice the profession and that alone. By so doing he achieved the position as leader of the bar in that part of the state. He was a democrat in politics and during the last campaign was with the sound money wing of the democracy. February 19, 1897, Mr. Munger was confirmed as judge of the United States Court in the district of Nebraska. His appointment seems to have been very felicitous. Lawyers from every party congratulated him upon his success in life, and themselves that so able and fair a judge was to preside in the federal court. Judge Munger has reaped the rich reward of a man who works faithfully and presses toward the mark of his high calling. He has been preferred not on account of political service but as a compliment to his ability as a lawyer.