University of Texas School of Law - Peregrinus Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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The Law-Science Institute r SPONSOR © OY TMt SCHOOLS OF LAW MO MEOtCtNC 1HI UNIVERSITY OP TEXAS AUSTIN A 2 V4VSI ST WlhMOM SMITH. LL » . « 9. . KMtCTM moicum or lap amo or li»al mount Judge W. S. Simkins’ Own Story of Peregnnus WILLIAM GRAY JOHNSON VII J ohnson Foundation Research Associate LL. B. Univ. of Texas. 1951. Law-Science Institute, associated with Dr. H. W. Smith. (Top right) D r. Hubert Winston Smith, Professor of Legal Medicine, assisted by Dr. Ralph N. Baillif of Tulane, opened the first class in Townes Hall, the new University of Texas Law School building. They are shown discussing legal terms and anatomy with prospective lawyers in order to better acquaint them with the problems surrounding personal injury cases. “You ask for the origin of Peregrinus. I well rememhrr its birth,— in fact 1 was present at the accouchement. “This nondescript sprang fully armed and equipped for its mission not from a mental Jove, but from a disordered brain of a Savage. “Many years ago I was trying to explain to the class in Equity, the origin of the system in Rome and the sources of Equity in the Roman Empire. At that time fledglings just from the high schools were admitted to the Law School. Many of them had never heard of the Roman Empire, and not a few spelled cow with a • K. Well, I explained to them that when Rome conquered a nation it was incorporated into the Roman Empire subject to its own laws and not to the laws of Rome — that the Roman citizen was not subject to the laws of these incorporated nations, — that in due course commerce sprang up between the citizens of Rome and the barbaric nations, and there was no law to determine and settle their contractual relations. The Roman Emperor, to settle the troubles arising out of the fact that there was no law applicable to control their contract, appointed a Praetor or chancellor to travel among these nations and to settle all dis-putes without reference to the laws of Rome, or of the incorporated Nations, but to do justice and decide all disputes, alone by the conscience of the Praetor. Peregrinating from one nation to the other, he has called a Praetor Peregrinus. “The boneheads of the class evidently thought that Peregrinus was an internal organ of the body, for they continually greeted each other,'How is your Peregrinus today? This fact seems to have developed the humorous side of the incident, and Russell Savage developed a concrete expression of it on the black board,.and thus the tradition began. Russell drew better than he knew, for the nondescript animal symbolizes both in limb and attitude the maxims in Equity that guide the administration of the system. For instance, on one of the front feet as originally drawn was an Irish ditcher's boot, — indicating the law’s protection to the least of mankind. On the other front fool were naked claws, indicating that the greatest of mankind must fear its power. The arched back in the attitude of springing, indicated that the law was ever ready to protect right or prevent wrong. The sharp beak indicated the power to penetrate the mysteries of the law, which the true student must obtain by study. The bushy tail indicated that Equity brushes away the technicalities of the law and does justice to the merits.’’ PACE 29

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JERRE STOCKTON WILLIAMS Professor of Law A. B. 1938, Univ. of Denver; LL. B. 1941, Columbia Univ. Instructor, Univ, of lowu Law School, and Faculty Editor, Iowa Law Review, 1941-42; Asst. Prof, of Law, Univ. of Denver School of Law, 1946; Assoc. Prof, of Law, Univ. of Texas, 1946-50; Prof, of Law since 1950. Univ. of North Carolina, summer, 1952. Subjects: Constitutional Law, Labor Relations, Employees’ Rights, Legal Profession, Seminar in Legal and Economic Aspects of Collective Bargaining. FACULTY MARION KENNETH WOODWARD Professor of Law B. A. 1933, Univ. of Texas; M. A. 1940, West Texas State College; LL. B., 1943, Univ. of Texas; Sterling Fellow, Yale Univ., 1950. Staff Attorney, Phillips Petroleum C o., Amarillo, T e x., 1946. Teacher, Amarillo, Tex,, 1935-41; Assoc. Prof, of Law, Univ. of Texas, 1946-49; Prof, of Law, since 1950; Asst. Dean, 1948-51; Assoc. Dean, 1951-53. U. S. Army, 1943-45. Subjects: Mortgages, Texas Land Titles, Wills and Administration. JOSEPH PARKER WITHERSPOON Associate Professor of Law A. B. 1936, Univ. of Chicago; LL. B. 1948, Univ. of Texas. Asst. Prof, of Law, 1948-50. Assoc. Prof, of Law since 1950. On leave of absence 1951-52 as Chief counsel O. P. S., Washington, D. C. Member, Texas State Bar Assn. Lt. (SC), USNR, active duty U. S. Navy, 1942-4 6. Subjects: Administrative Law, Legislation, Constitutional Law, T rade Regulation. WILLIAM FRANKLIN YOUNG, JR. Associate Professor of Law College of Marshall, 1942-43; B. A. 1947, LL. B. 1949, Univ. of Texas. Asst. Prof, of Law, Univ. of Texas, 1949-52; Assoc. Prof, since 1952. V i s i t i n g Prof., Duke Univ. Law School, 1952-53. U. S. Army Signal Corps, 1943-45. Subjects: Contracts, Debtors’ Estates, Fraud and Mistake. PACE 28

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STAFF (Left) MRS. DOROTHY SMITH Administrative Secretary MRS. NINA DELORME Administrative Secretary (Right) MRS. RUTH TAYLOR Secretary to the Dear. MISS KARINE GIPS Placement Secretary MRS. SYBIL LEE Switchboard Operator MRS. MARGARET SHOAP Faculty Secretary MRS. INA DELL SELLERS Faculty Secretary PACE 30