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

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was at that time teaching a 1966 ease which he had been teaching for many years. It was a case on which he had written several opinions. During that particular class, one of his students posed a question to him that had never been asked previously. He in his years of lecturing on that case had never heard anyone pose such a fresh and unique question. In fact, he knew that other legal commentators had not posed such a question nor discussed it in that same context. It is these same fresh perspectives and sharp questions that keep the study of law challenging and keep Professor Charles Alan Wright in the classroom. As Professor Wright notes, “There are so many bright young men and women out there and they think of things that no one has ever thought about in the past. “A professor can’t just sit back on tired old notes. I know I am going to be challenged by very bright minds in the classroom,” Wright said. Professor Wright continues to teach at The University and plans to continue in this endeavor in his near future. In May, Professor Wright also plans on assuming the role of President of the American Law Institute, a position he hopes to maintain until the beginning of the next century. In addition to these C rgi Bniftt vocations. Professor Wright still aspires to add more books to his distinguished library of publications. When asked in retrospect if he would have changed anything in his career or pursued a different path. Professor Wright responded “I love teaching and I believe I have the best possible job. I can teach, which I enjoy immensely and I can write books, which I find very pleasant and exciting and I can participate in outside cases, which gives me a competitive clement.” Most importantly, Professor Wright enjoys doing all of this at The University. We at The University of Texas School of Law are very glad he feels that way. Charles Alan Wright — 5

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Portrait: Charles Alan Wright One only has to enter Charles Alan Wright’s office to get a feel for what presence this well-renowned professor brings to The University of Texas at Austin School of Law. The walls of his office leave little room for decorations as they arc already adorned wilh the numerous awards and achievements given him over the years. These accolades not only dictate the career of one of the most respected legal scholars in the country, they also make a statement of what one’s passion for the law can achieve. You don’t, however, have to go to his fourth floor office to become familiar with his influence on the legal community. For one thing, if you go to any law library and ask for assistance on a federal civil procedure question, you will most likely be directed to Wright and Miller texts on civil procedure. These legal texts virtually make federal civil procedure synonymous with Wright’s name. If you open any West Publishing casebook you will find an advisory board listing for the casebook series which includes Professor Wright’s name among twelve of the most respected legal acadcniians. Additionally, if you know anything about the football scene at The University, you probably know about the most successful football team in Texas, the famous Legal Eagles, an intramural football team consisting of law students. This team has established a winning tradition that has flourished since Professor Wright took the reins as head coach 38 years ago. Finally, one only has to listen to the conversations of most law students who have taken Professor Wright for Federal Courts, Remedies or Constitutional Law to really understand the respect his classes draw. Originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Professor Wright’s travels have taken him to various points across the country. When he graduated from by David Garza Wesleyan College at the young age of nineteen in 1947, he was not quite sure what path he was going to follow. After receiving advice from a government professor at Wesleyan and witnessing numerous friends going off to study law. Professor Wright realized law was a field he had found very interesting. As a result, he attended law school at Yale University and after only the first few weeks of school was very excited in his choice to pursue a legal career. Upon graduation, he immediately began a clerkship with Judge Charles E. Clark of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Once this clerkship ended in 1950, he went directly into teaching at The University of Minnesota where he remained until 1955. Around that time, Professor Wright was invited to The University of Texas School of law as a visiting professor by long-time Texas faculty member Jerry Williams, a professor who later became a judge on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Professor Wright liked Austin as soon as he began teaching at UT. At the end of his first semester he accepted a full lime faculty position offered by Page Keeton, dean of the Law School at that time. To this day, Professor Wright continues his teachings at The University and currently holds the William B. Bates Chair for the Administration of Justice. Looking back at his career. Professor Wright considers his successful participation in the United States Supreme Court case of San Antonio Independent School Dutrict v. Rodriguez to be his most memorable professional achievement. “My friends thought I had no chance at all in the case,” reflected Wright., but I still won the case in a 5-4 decision which gives an indication of the quality of the advocacy needed to have that successful outcome.’’ To date, Wright has argued twelve cases before the United States Supreme Court and still many more before courts of appeals and various state supreme courts. The demand for his legal instruction has not been limited to Texas. Professor Wright has taught as a visiting professor at such esteemed institutions as Yale, Harvard, Michigan, and The University of Pennsylvania. His teaching prowess has also brought him foreign acclaim, as he has also held teaching positions at prestigious British universities — most notably, The University of Cambridge and The University of Kent at Canterbury. Indeed, the subtlety of his intellect and his grasp of the law is such that he was consulted by counsel for the President of the United ' States in 1973. Of the many honors that he has received over the years, one that Professor Wright holds in high regard was his being recognized in March of 1989 with a Texas Law Week dedication. Also in 1989, Professor Wright was distinguished with the Fellows Research Award from the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation. This prestigious award is given once a year to individuals for a lifetime of excellence in research. More recently, he was honored in the spring of 1992 by the Espiscopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest in Austin which presented him with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. With all the awards and achievements, Professor Wright attributes much of his success to the simple formula of both hard work and efficiency. In particular. Professor Wright states that he has “an uncanny memory for remembering cases and their cites and “an ability to work very quickly. Though active in outside cases, Professor Wright’s first passion remains to be teaching. One of his favorite teaching memories involved a student he once had in one of his federal courts classes in the mid-70s. In particular, he 4 — Charles Alan Wright

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FALL EX-PARTE Following in the long tradition of annual drunken Law School parties. Fall Ex-Parte was a huge success this year. The Student Bar Association returned to a I lalloween Costume theme for the all-school bash held at a vacant club on 6th Street on Oct. 30. Tickets were $7 for a buffet and all the beer and wine you could chug. From 9 p.m. until 2 a.m. over 780 law students crowded into the club for drinking, dancing, etc. (the definition of “etc.” changed depending on how much drinking and dancing you had done.) Inside the club was a DJ. bar and buffet. Outside a band played live music to a packed dance floor. Revellers drank and danced the night away. A concentric circle, anti-gravity, sure-fire hurl machine was located outside the club which, combined with the free-flowing brew inside, could have gotten ugly. Yet, the only real harm was intoxicated first year law students mangling tort law in an attempt to access the potential liability involved. The costumes ranged from the traditional to the bizarre. You may have seen flappers, bobby soxers, sheriffs, devils, Trekkies, Little Red Riding Hood, cattle, and Lady Godiva with a bathrobe (at least she had it on early in the evening.) Also memorable were several blood dripping vampires claiming to be personal injury attorneys. Student Bar Association Marlon Doerre (third year representative). Katherine Duff (president) and Manny Kalra (treasurer planned the festivities and ran into only minor problems. A menacing forecast required that a large tent be erected at the last minute (the choice was between that and buying more kegs so no one would notice.) Also, there was the minor problem of almost having the party shut down by the I'cxas Alcoholic Beverage Commission with a possible trip to the slammer because of confusion over the necessary alcohol permits. With the threat of 800 stressed-out, thirsty law students showing up in fifteen minutes, SBA members quickly filled out temporary permits and the party went ahead as planned. Pkou hj Amnrlm SiMalnn 6 — Fall Kx-Partc