A HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL OF LAW AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA from the beginning to the class of 1959

Thomas Jefferson, Lawyer

After Thomas Jefferson completed his studies at William and

the good fortune to serve his under George Wythe. Jefferson was concerned that an apprenticeship was often under an indifferent teacher and the apprentice was assigned menial and repetitive tasks. Over the years, Jefferson wrote a 1774 General Court closes due to number of letters to aspiring lawyers recommending a course of reading. the rising conflict with Great Jefferson believed that the inheritance received by his wife in 1773 Britain made him a wealthy man. This is the likely the reason that Jefferson gave up his law practice in early 1774, although he did retain his cases on caveats. As a result of the escalating tension with Great Britain, the General Court was closed in late 1774 and never reopened. Jeffersons career as a lawyer was over, but not his interest in legal education. Creation of the law school As a result of Jeffersons election as governor, he became a member of the governing board at the College of William & Mary. This provided him creates chair of the opportunity to put into practice his ideas on legal education. At his urging, the Chair of Law at William & Mary was created in 1779, the first established in a law school in the United States. The first occupant of the Chair was George Wythe, in whose law offices Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, James Monroe and Henry Clay studied. It was Jeffersons concept that the student receive a professional and liberal education at the same time. This contrasted with the method at Harvard which opened its law school in 1818 as a separate organization from the college. At that time, besides William and Mary, there was one other university related law school in the United States, at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, which opened in 1799. By the early 1800s, there were six proprietary law schools in Virginia.

The Wren Building

was suggested to him by George Wythe who became his preceptor on his return to Williamsburg. Wythe guided Jeffersons legal studies for two years, quite a long time in that era, and in 1766 he was admitted to the General Court. The most common methods of studying law in the mideighteenth century were as an apprentice under a practicing lawyer or as an independent reading for the law. Although reading could be done without supervision, it did require dedication on the part of the candidate. Jefferson had a low opinion of the apprenticeship, even though he had

1779 Jefferson law at W&M

by Ole Erekson, Engraver, c1876 Library of Congress

George Wythe

Creation of the University of Virginia As early as 1790, Jefferson had outlined a system of state education which would provide males the opportunity for schooling from the earliest grades through the university level. His ideas were never supported by the General Assembly, so in his declining years, he embarked upon the creation of a college in Charlottesville. The Albemarle Academy had existed on paper, but had never been put into operation. Jefferson was named a trustee in 1814 and suggested to the General assembly that this become Central College. Jefferson envisioned and designed his new academical village and along with James Madison and James Monroe, he set the cornerstone for the construction of Pavilion VII. At the same time, there was a movement in the General Assembly to establish a new state university. The Board of Visitors of the new Central College offered to donate the site in Charlottesville. A meeting of the committee to select the site met August 1, 1818 at Rockfish gap and in January 1819, Central College became the University of Virginia. Jefferson was greatly aided in the Assembly by Joseph Carrington Cabell who was unflagging in his support of the new universitys educational program and his supervision of the construction program during Jeffersons life and after his death. The design of the academical village featured a wide expanse of lawn, flanked by two parallel rows of buildings. Behind these rows were the ranges of additional student rooms. It was suggested to Jefferson that he provide a dominant building as a focal point on the open north end of the inner rows. There he placed his magnificent Rotunda, a domed structure modeled on the Pantheon in Rome. Still, there was opposition from members of the Assembly for the cost of this ornamental architecture. In 1976 the American Institute of Architects deemed his design of the university the proudest achievement of American architecture in the past 200 years.
The Rotunda

Pavilion VII

1819 General Assembly establishes the University of Virginia

By 1824 the school was ready for the appointment of a faculty. Francis Walker Gilmer was a committee of one sent to recruit a faculty in England and Scotland. He received little enthusiasm from the British academics both because of the low salary and the unknown quality of life at a new university. Miraculously, he returned home with all the positions filled except the Professor of Law. The Law School Jefferson could now fully implement his ideas. It was his plan for the new law school to teach common and statute law, equity, federal law, civil and mercantile law, jurisprudence and international law, and the principles of government and political science. He intended it to be a two-year course but students could cram all the courses into one year.

It was of great concern to the Board of visitors that the law professor 1824 UVA to open without a law hold the Republican political view of the general principles of liberty and the rights of man. Jefferson was content to let all the professors pick their textprofessor

books except the law professor. He was to conform to Jeffersons list to avoid any political bias toward federalism. At the admonition of James Madison, Jefferson finally agreed to moderate the list to avoid framing a political creed and raising an issue that the law school would be controlled by political orthodoxy. This could possibly excite a prejudice against the University which might 1825 University of Virginia opens cause parents to withdraw their sons. its doors to students When the University was unable to find a law professor, Gilmer fi1826 UVA not to have a president nally agreed to take the post. Unfortunately he died soon afterward and the search began anew. It was next offered along with the title of President of the 1826 John Tayloe Lomax becomes University to William Wirt, Attorney General of the United States. Jefferson first professor of law and teaches was opposed to establishing an office of president, instead preferring that the in Pavilion III chairman of the faculty perform that function. A confrontation was avoided when Wirt turned down the post and it was accepted by John Tayloe Lomax. Jefferson lived to see Lomaxs appointment, but died the day before Lomax joined the faculty on July 5, 1826. The University would continue without a president for the next one hundred years, the only major university in the country to be headed by a chairman selected by the faculty. Shortly before his death, Jefferson wrote Madison: and if I move beyond the reach of attention to the University, or beyond the bourne of life itself, as I soon must, it is a comfort to leave the institution under your care... Lomax resigned in 1830 to become a judge of Virginias Fifth Circuit in Fredericksburg and later started a law school in his basement. John A. G. Davis succeeded Lomax as professor of law in 1830. Davis was a lawyer in Charlottesville and was secretary of the Board of Visitors. He had attended a 1829 Students Mosby and Wolfe class when the university opened in 1825 and so was one of the first alumni. He was thought to be too young for the job and was given a temporary apfirst to complete law courses pointment. However, he created such a favorable impression that the position was made permanent the next year. Davis divided the school into a junior class which studied the law of nature and nations, science of government, constitutional law, and the elementary principles of jurisprudence; and a senior class which studied the com1830 John A.G. Davis hired as mon and statute law, equity, maritime, and commercial law. Of all the professor of law and teaches in courses, Davis thought constitutional law most important. He taught by lecture, a method employed in all law schools until after the Civil War. He was Pavilion X killed in a student riot in 1840 when he attempted to take a mask off of a student who drew his pistol and shot Davis. After posting bond, the student left Virginia, and is believed to have committed suicide. In July 1841 Davis was succeeded by Henry St. George Tucker. Tucker opened a law school in 1824 in Winchester and in 1831, he accepted an appointment to the Virginia Court of Appeals. In 1846 he published his Commentaries on the Laws of Virginia, based on his Winchester law school lectures. He also published Lectures on Constitutional Law for the Virginia law school. Tucker maintained the Junior Senior class system implemented by Davis and required that students successfully complete both classes and the
Pavilion III

Pavilion X

required examinations in order to graduate. Tucker spent only four years at the law school as a law professor but left a lasting legacy in his proposal that 1840 Henry St. George Tucker the University adopt an honor system. becomes professor of law The Minor Era 1842 Honor Code adopted John Barbee Minor was a 32-year-old lawyer in Charlottesville when the Board of Visitors appointed him Professor of Law at the University in 1845. He was to serve the law school for 50 years. Minor had been a student of the Junior class in the law school in 1832 and then studied in the school of mathematics and the school of chemistry before enrolling in the Senior law course. He was one of only 14% who graduated in 1834 under the strict guidelines of John Davis. Minor believed that the law school should combine both academic 1845 John B. Minor (Class of and professional studies in a broad education for lawyers, much as he had ex1834) becomes professor of law perienced. In 1842 law school graduates were exempted from examination for University establishes Bachelor of admission to the bar. However, Minor who did not believe in favoritism, was Laws degree instrumental in having this exemption repealed in 1849. Beginning in 1851, in addition to the Junior class and the Senior class, Minor added an intermediate class which addressed the theory and practice of law as a profession. This course seemed to be an introductory course for those interested in the study of law but who did not have sufficient educational background. The Junior class curriculum included international law, government, and Blackstones Commentaries, while the intermediate class studied pleading, equity, mercantile law, and evidence. The courses for the Senior class included equity, contracts, bills and notes, leading cases, and lectures on civil law. 1853 law classes move to newly built Rotunda Annex In 1856 the school was organized into two departments, each with a Junior class and a Senior class. Upon the coming of the Civil War, the students left but the faculty continued to keep the University open for those too young to serve and wounded veterans. The destruction visited on Virginia by the Union troops during the war between the states wrecked the College of William & Mary and its law school did not open again until 1924. In the fighting around Charlottesville, General George Custer took care to guard the University from looting and destruction when his federal troops marched through the town. Once the war was over, the students returned. Jefferson had instituted a system for the professors to receive the tuition fees paid by students. Although Minor never became wealthy, he was the most popular and had the largest classes. This caused resentment among some of the other professors due to his greater income. Minor also taught a summer session as an introduction to law school for prospective students. This very successful for-profit venture was probably the first summer session law school in the country. 1861 Minor teaches handful of students during the Civil War Minor consistently adhered to a strict standard for awarding a law degree. In his first ten years at the law school only about 9% received a degree which led to discontent among the students. However during the 1800s, a law degree was not required to take the bar examination.

By 1890, Minor had completed the publication of The Institutes of Common and Statutory Law, which brought him international acclaim as well as prestige to the Law School. The predominant method of instruction was by text book and lecture. A moot court system instituted by Minor continues to this day. The course work provided for two years of study, but as a law degree was not a prerequisite to practicing, many students left after one year. The Lile Era John Barbee Minor died in 1895 at the age of 83. He was succeeded by Walter Davis Dabney who had received his bachelor of law degree from the University in 1875. He practiced law in Charlottesville and was a member of 1895 Walter Davis Dabney (class the House of Delegates. He authored The Public Regulation of Railways and served on the Interstate Commerce Commission and as solicitor in the United States of 1875) becomes Professor of Department of State. He died in 1899 and Charles Alfred Graves was elected Law Professor of Law. Graves received a Master of Arts in 1869 from Washington and Lee University and became a member of that faculty. W&L later awarded him a Bachelor of Laws and he became professor of law, a position he held until he resigned to become professor at law at Virginia. He was a recognized legal 1897 Moot Court mandatory scholar, writing A Summary of Personal Property and The Law of Real Property. 1899 Charles Alfred Graves be- Graves was a co-founder in 1896 of the Virginia Law Register. comes Professor of Law Shortly before the turn of the century, the American Bar Association established a section on legal education and admission to the bar. This was an effort to create uniform admission requirements among the leading law schools 1900 law classes return to Ro- but Virginia declined to join. The reputation of the Virginia Law School suffered during the early decades of the 20th century because it continued to cling tunda to Minors method of instruction which was by textbook and lecture. Most law 1903 first Libel Show performed schools were following Harvards lead and teaching by the Socratic and caseby members of the Phi Delta Phi book method. fraternity Virginia Law School found itself falling behind other first-rate schools 1904 Edwin A. Alderman ap- in its admission requirements. In 1904, only a high school education was repointed as first president of Uni- quired for admission to the law school. Almost 10 years earlier, Harvard began versity requiring a college degree for admission. As late as 1920, Virginia only required a full year of college for admission. Although it was easy to get into, the law 1904 William Minor Lile (class school continued to have very strict requirements for graduation. of 1882) appointed as first dean of the law school As Jefferson had decreed, the University had been run by a chairman elected by the faculty. In 1904 the Board of Visitors appointed Edwin Anderson Alderman the first president of the University of Virginia. He quickly appointed William Minor Lile as dean of the Law School, which now had 200 students. It consisted of two years of study with six course subjects each year. Each week there were nine lectures of an hour and a half each so the class work totaled slightly more than thirteen hours each week in addition to participation in the Moot Court. 1895 Fire devastates Rotunda
William Minor Lile

Lile had graduated from the Law School in 1882 and later joined the Law School faculty in 1893. He was a founder and an associate editor of the

1909 three years of study required for law degree 1911 Law School moves to Minor Hall

Virginia Law Register and from 18971902 he was the editor. In 1910 he was named James Madison Professor of Law and several years later was President of the Virginia Bar Association. He published Notes on Equity Procedure in 1916 and Lyles Addition of Bigelows Bills, Notes and Checks in 1928. Lile was extremely popular with the students who referred to him as Billy Lile. When Lile became ill, Raleigh Colston Minor was appointed acting dean and during that period proposed that the Law school require three years of study as a prerequisite for awarding the bachelor of laws degree. The Board of Visitors approved this as a requirement for the entering class in 1909. When the law school opened in 1826, classes met on the ground floor of the Pavilion in which the Professor of Law resided. This continued until 1853, when the law school moved to a newly constructed annex of the Rotunda. In 1895 a disastrous fire forced the removal of the law students to the Washington Society Hall. After the restoration of the Rotunda, the law classes were moved back to several small rooms in the basement. Space was cramped and conditions were difficult and Dean Lile lobbied vigorously for a new location. The long anticipated move came in 1911 to a new building named for Professor John B. Minor, but the enthusiasm was short-lived. The Law School did not have exclusive use of the lecture rooms, the lighting was never completed and the radiators could not warm the large rooms. The major fund-raising efforts by President Alderman were for a new library and equipment for the School of Engineering and there was nothing left for the Law School. The poor physical conditions at Minor Hall remained unchanged, but in 1929 Williams Andrews Clark Jr., of the law class of 1899, visited Dean Lile and donated $100,000 to build an addition to Minor Hall for the Law School. When he was later informed that the topography did not permit an annex next to Minor Hall, Clark responded with an offer of $350,000 for a new building. It was ready for the 193233 school year and was named Clark Memorial Hall for Clarks first wife, Mabel Foster Clark. Clark Hall would serve the Law School until 1974. An inscription written by Professor Leslie N. Buckler was carved across the great portico: That those alone may be servants of the law Who labor with learning, courage and devotion To preserve liberty and promote justice Construction did not exhaust the funds contributed by Clark and enough remained to finish the interior. He also commissioned a mural by Allyn Cox which adorned the great entrance hall. Clark wanted it to trace the history of the law, from the time of Moses, then going on through the Greek, Roman, the dark ages, the Renaissance, Napoleons Civil Code, and thereafter to the time of our revolution, with which our founder, Thomas Jefferson, was so eminent. Unfortunately, by this time, illness had forced the retirement of Dean Lile and in 1932 he was replaced by Armistead M. Dobie. Dobie, a for-

Minor Hall

1913 Virginia Law Review begins publication 1920 applicants must complete one year of college before Law School 1921 Law School Alumni Association organized; applicants to the Law School must have completed two years of college 1922 Women admitted on the same basis as men 1923 Elizabeth N. Tompkins is the first woman to graduate from the Law School. 1929 William Andrews Clark, Jr. donates funds to build Clark Hall 1932 Armistead M. Dobie (class of 1904) becomes dean

1937 Professor F.D.G. Ribble mer student of the University and the Law School, having received three de(Class of 1921) becomes acting grees there, had joined the faculty in 1907. Following his service in World War dean. I, he was granted a further leave of absence for graduate study at Harvard Law School. He returned in 1922 with a new system of study the casebook method. Garrulous and always right, Dobie met some resistance, but ten years later when he became dean the casebook method was entrenched at the Law School. He had a national reputation as a legal scholar and authored books on federal procedure, and on bailments and carriers, and taught the summer sessions at some of the leading law schools. His health slowed his capacity to perform his duties and in 1937 Frederick Deane Goodwin Ribble was made Acting Dean. When Dobie left in 1939 to accept an appointment as a district judge for the Western District of Virginia, Ribble became the third and youngest dean of the law school. Dobie was later appointed to the United States Court of Appeals F.D.G. Ribble for the Fourth Circuit and died in 1962. 1939 F.D.G. Ribble appointed F.D.G. Ribble received an A.B. from William and Mary in 1916, a third dean M.A. in 1917 and a LL.B. in 1921 from the University, and later that year at age 23 became the youngest member of the Law faculty. After he became dean 1942 Frances Farmer is the Law in 1939, the Law School faced the war years when enrollment fell to 40 stuSchool's first professional dents. After the war he instituted a transition program for returning veterans librarian and kept the Law school open year-round to meet the demand. Ribble was a nationally known constitutional scholar and served as president of the Associa1945 Law School offers Doctor tion of American Law schools in 1951. In 1955 he served as president of the of Juridical Science and Master of Virginia State Bar Association. When Ribble became dean, compensation of the Laws degrees professors at the law school was low compared to similar positions in the College, and the library was much smaller than those at the law schools at Duke 1946 First-year law courses are University and the University of North Carolina. The Law School Foundation offered year-round to accommo- was established to expand the library and enlarge Clark Hall. During his tenure, date more than 700 returning the law school doubled its enrollment and grew in national prominence. He servicemen and women; Student retired in 1963 and was succeeded as dean by Hardy Cross Dillard, a long time Legal Forum is founded; first colleague on the law faculty. Dean Ribble died in 1970. Master of Laws degrees awarded 1948 Virginia Law Weekly begins publication 1949 all applicants are required to take Law School Admission Test 1952 Law School Foundation created 1956 The Barrister begins publication. 1958 John F. Merchant is first African-American to graduate from the law school; first Law Day celebrating alumni reunions
This history was compiled by Richard Dixon, Class of 1959. Sources: The First Hundred Years, by John Ritchie, University Press of Virginia; Mr. Jeffersons University, by Virginius Dabney; Thomas Jefferson and the Law, by Edward Dumbauld, University of Oklahoma press; Thomas Jefferson Lawyer, by Frank L. Dewey, University Press of Virginia; Legal Education in Virginia 1779-1979,by W. Hamilton Bryson, University Press of Virginia; articles by Marsha Trimble, Law School Archivist, in UVA Lawyer, Spring 1996, Fall 1997, and Spring 2001. In 1974, the Law School was moved to the North Grounds. Clark Hall was added to the Virginia Landmarks Registry in June, 2008 and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in September 2008.