Where's Witkin?
There are two kinds of legal scholars in California: those who recognize the name Bernie Witkin, and those who should.
Witkin was a Boaltie (1928) who described his attitude toward law school as "loathing," who argued that the Socratic method dishonored Socrates and insulted students, and who was ever-on-the-verge of flunking out. He may also have been a bit of a schemer; legend has it that while studying for exams he used to make money on the side by selling to other students carbon copies of his notes and outlines (remarkable, given his grades, no?). After graduating, he developed those notes first to teach bar review courses, and then to create a treatise on California law. That treatise became both the seminal authority on California State Law, and the backbone of his career. For over sixty years, then, Bernie Witkin was a professional outliner -- a fact which may make him the only Boalt grad to make a living from the skills he learned in law school.
And to what effect? WestLaw shows that Witkin has been cited by the California Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal over 20,000 times. Justice Chin of the Supreme Court once remarked, "For me, Bernie Witkin and California law have always been synonymous." Any sentence that succeeds the words "Wikin says . . . " carries the weight of appellate authority. All this despite the fact that Witkin neither practiced nor taught law. I say that's pretty good for a self-described misfit.
The Witkin story is fascinating enough (at least to me) as it stands, but the Chronicle this week reveals a heartwarming twist: although Witkin passed away over ten years ago, his wife's philanthropic work has steadily disbursed his wealth to needy organizations in California generally and the Bay Area specifically, and has made possible many noble undertakings at Boalt, in San Francisco, and across the state. Read the article for yourself -- it's an impressive list.
Without grasping at platitudes, I would submit that Witkin's story and his wife's work proves that good things can come out of the law. It also suggests that people who disagree with the Socratic method (*cough*) may be wiser to stick it out.
Witkin was a Boaltie (1928) who described his attitude toward law school as "loathing," who argued that the Socratic method dishonored Socrates and insulted students, and who was ever-on-the-verge of flunking out. He may also have been a bit of a schemer; legend has it that while studying for exams he used to make money on the side by selling to other students carbon copies of his notes and outlines (remarkable, given his grades, no?). After graduating, he developed those notes first to teach bar review courses, and then to create a treatise on California law. That treatise became both the seminal authority on California State Law, and the backbone of his career. For over sixty years, then, Bernie Witkin was a professional outliner -- a fact which may make him the only Boalt grad to make a living from the skills he learned in law school.
And to what effect? WestLaw shows that Witkin has been cited by the California Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal over 20,000 times. Justice Chin of the Supreme Court once remarked, "For me, Bernie Witkin and California law have always been synonymous." Any sentence that succeeds the words "Wikin says . . . " carries the weight of appellate authority. All this despite the fact that Witkin neither practiced nor taught law. I say that's pretty good for a self-described misfit.
The Witkin story is fascinating enough (at least to me) as it stands, but the Chronicle this week reveals a heartwarming twist: although Witkin passed away over ten years ago, his wife's philanthropic work has steadily disbursed his wealth to needy organizations in California generally and the Bay Area specifically, and has made possible many noble undertakings at Boalt, in San Francisco, and across the state. Read the article for yourself -- it's an impressive list.
Without grasping at platitudes, I would submit that Witkin's story and his wife's work proves that good things can come out of the law. It also suggests that people who disagree with the Socratic method (*cough*) may be wiser to stick it out.
posted by Patrick Bageant at 9:33 PM
2 Comments:
Thanks for an excellent post Patrick. I didn't even know he was a Boaltie...they really should put a picture of him up next to all the CA SCT justices in the library.
Great post, until the bit at the end about the Socratic method. I don't think that "sticking it out" is the point of the story at all, but rather a personal response to much of the whining that goes on about the Socratic method.
I like the Socratic method, mostly because I do the reading and am generally quick enough to BS myself out of any situation where I find myself at a loss for an answer. But all this talk about the Socratic method stems from people who are trying to improve it, and improve education generally. If someone has come up with a great way to do this, and they just shut up and "stick it out", then I think they are doing a disservice to themselves and the whole legal field.
This is one instance where tradition should be shot dead, without a cigarette. Just because the Socratic method is way it's always been done doesn't mean it's the best way to teach. It didn't work out too well for segregation, prayer in school, or corporal punishment (though I have confusing internal disagreement with that last point).
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