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Welcome Message from the President
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Remembering New Orleans
In the aftermath of the terrible destruction wrought by hurricane Katrina along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico, it is difficult to conjure up the memories of our trip to New Orleans in the winter of 1978.
Back then, the city whose name is now synonymous with tragedy and human suffering was a prime convention destination; a town full of fun, food and frolicking visitors to the French Quarter.
The mid winter meeting of the American Bar Association was held in New Orleans that year, and among the thousands of lawyers from all over America was a hope-filled contingent from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan.
By then, I fully expected that Cooley would win the final approval of the Bar. Unlike the nail-biting, hair-pulling agonies of previous American Bar Association meetings, this was to be a celebration. I invited our entire Board of Directors and their spouses to join us on the trip, and I told the men to bring their tuxedos.
Lou Smith, the President of the school and his lovely wife Karen were among the first to accept. I was particularly pleased that he would be there. I well remembered the rejoicing that followed our opening session five years before. On that night, board members and their guests repaired to the old Lansing City Club on Grand Avenue, in whose Rathskeller we dined after the opening ceremonies. On that occasion, Lou stood and offered a toast to Thomas M. Cooley, after which, mimicking a scene from some long forgotten movie, he turned with a flourish and tossed his champagne glass into the fireplace. It was such a brash and heady gesture that I was moved to repeat it. Before the evening was over a half dozen toasts had been offered and an equal number of champagne flutes had been shattered against the andirons. Lou picked up the tab for the broken glassware. I knew he would be great fun in New Orleans.
It didn't take long. Hardly had Polly and I settled into the hotel room, when there came a knock on the door announcing that Cooley's President had arrived. He burst through the door delivering a hilarious monologue about accreditation committee members and their curious proclivities, and the tone for the week was set.
Oddly enough, I don't recall the details of the actions taken by the accreditation committee or the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar during that week. Suffice it to say that the critical deed got done; Cooley Law School won the full accreditation of the American Bar Association; rubber stamped, as customary, by the unanimous vote of the 600 members of the House of Delegates.
To say that we were euphoric is to put too small a name on it. We were ecstatic, giddy, wildly pleased with ourselves. And we were in a mood to celebrate.
We prowled up and down Bourbon Street. At one point, lunching to the saucy beat of a jazz quartet, Phil Marco, our Chairman, struck up a conversation in the men's room with movie actor David Wayne who was working on location at the time. That led to a spate of lavatory humor. Later, while our wives waited out front, Lou Smith, Bob Krinock and I tipped a bouncer to throw us unceremoniously out of a saloon. Whereupon the ladies left us to go shopping for gag gifts to be presented to the men at dinner.
For dinner, I had reserved a private room at the Commander's Palace, one of the Crescent City's most elegant eateries. There were twelve of us: Phil and Marilyn Marco, John and Laurabeth Fitzgerald, Jim and Mary Ryan, Bob and Sharon Krinock, Bob and Marian Fisher, Lou and Karen Smith, and Polly and myself.
This time, though many toasts were offered, no glasses were thrown into the fireplace. There was, however, a great good humored ceremony in which Polly Brennan, Sharon Krinock and Karen Smith presented their gag gifts to each member of the board. And, of course, there were many heart felt, impromptu speeches.
Our little band of true believers had come a long, long way. Looking back, I marvel at our youth, our optimism, our Chutzpah. We had begun with a dream, with words on a piece of paper, with ideas and promises. Now there was a law school. There were a thousand students, dozens of employees, two buildings, a growing library.
Most of all, our existence was now recognized by the prestigious national association of our fellow lawyers.
More than a hundred years before, Thomas M. Cooley had been the president of the American Bar Association. Despite his preeminent position in the legal profession, and his sterling reputation as a legal scholar, writer, teacher and jurist, Cooley was unceremoniously dumped from the Michigan Supreme Court by the voters in a failed reelection bid, largely because of the opposition of the Detroit News against whom he had ruled in a libel case.
Now this larger than life lawyer was back on the front page, back in the national limelight. He had returned as the embodiment of practical scholarship in the law. He had come back as the patron saint of working men and women for whom the opportunity to seek a law degree was an open road to the American Dream.
At long last, Judge Cooley had come home to stay.
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This Page was last updated on:
08/19/2004