XXVII. Professional Departments—Law
In 1904–05,—the initial session of the Presidency,—
the applicant for enrolment in the first year of the law
course, unless a special student, was called upon to submit
at least one of the following testimonials as the
condition of admission: the diploma of graduation in
some institution of collegiate rank, or a certificate of
good standing in the classes of such an institution; or a
diploma of graduation in a public or private high school
of reputation, or a certificate of equivalent value from its
principal; or a written statement that he had passed the
entrance examinations of the University successfully.
Of the twelve units required in 1907–08, three were in
English, three in mathematics, and two in history. The
remainder were electives. No credit for advanced
standing was allowed on the basis of study done else
where previous to matriculation.
By 1910–11, some changes in these requirements for
admission had been made: the high school granting a
certificate must be on the accredited list; and the receiver
of the certificate must have graduated in a four-year
course.
With the lapse of time, the special and conditioned
students,—who were admitted without the privileges of
the regular members of the class,—became a cause of
uneasiness and dissatisfaction. In 1914–16, at least sixteen
per cent, of the enrolment consisted of special
students; and of these it was asserted that a considerable
proportion were incorrigible idlers who had entered
simply to be able to say in the future that "they had
been college men." In a registration, during one year,
of forty-three special students, not more than six or
eight were really qualified to pursue the study of law;
and the proportion for the conditioned students at this
time was substantially the same. The existence of the
evil was so damaging that the dean of the department,
Professor Lile, recommended that, after the session of
1915–16, all conditioned students should be debarred
from entrance; that no special student under twenty-three
years of age should be admitted, and those above that age
only by the action of the law faculty, after submitting
to a written examination; and that no irregular
student should be permitted to become a candidate for
the degree unless he had qualified as a regular student
at the end of his first year, and shown, by the success of
his previous diligence, that he was entitled to the privilege.
By 1909–10, the general course was so spread out as
to require three sessions to traverse it; and it was so arranged
as to fit, not only these three sessions, but the
three terms of each session. It had been enlarged by
the expansion of existing subjects, and by the addition of
subjects not previously offered. This allowed of the introduction
of numerous elective topics. The entire
course now embraced one thousand lecture periods or
units; and of these, as many as four hundred were elective.
This new system made it possible for the student to
select his subjects in harmony with his prospective need,
—thus, if he had matriculated from another State, he
was at liberty to omit the statutory law from the circle
of his choice, and substitute another topic that would
be more useful to him in his future practice. One consequence
of this expansion in the general course was to
increase the great reputation which the department had
always enjoyed. As time passed on, the disposition was
to convert the elective studies into obligatory studies,—
after 1915–16, the only electives permissible were Roman
law, admiralty, and damages. A choice could also
be made between Virginia pleading and code pleading.
[6]
The enlargement of old subjects, and the addition of
new, made it imperative to increase the number of
teachers associated with the department. When Professor
Lile was granted a leave of absence during the
session of 1907–08, his place was temporarily taken by
Armistead M. Dobie, who was afterwards assigned to a
full professorship. By 1913–14, there were four
full professors,—Graves, Lile, Minor and Dobie,—and
one adjunct professor of law, Eager, and one adjunct
professor of public speaking, Paul. Definite tasks had,
for some time, been performed by assistants, who, though
receiving small salaries, considered the compensation satisfactory,
since the prestige of the position led to subsequent
connections with large practitioners or to junior
partnerships. It was through them that a system of
daily quizzes was maintained, which proved to be highly
beneficial in its results.
The introduction of the course in public speaking had
been recommended in 1910 by the law faculty. The
ground covered by this course embraced the principles
of argumentation and debating, and also the methods
of delivery. The students, in groups of four, discussed
legal and forensic questions in the presence of the general
class. This course was supplemented by Professor
Lile's lectures on brief-making. In addition to the debates
under Professor Paul, there was, during many
years, a law debating society. The attendance in this society
had been voluntary, although, at one time, every
candidate for the degree of bachelor of law had been required
to argue at least one case before this body while
under the presidency of a member of the law faculty. A
debate open to all was permissible afterwards.
During the session of 1907–08, the General Assembly
appropriated sixty-five thousand dollars for the erection
and proper equipment of a law building at the University
of Virginia. The first site that was considered for its
location was one in the vicinity of the present post-office;
but the final choice fell upon the slope lying east of Dawson's
Row. The turf there was broken for the foundations
of the edifice in the spring of 1909; it was completed
in January, 1911; but was not used until the beginning
of the next session. Its total cost reached the
sum of $64,560.28.[7]
The structure may be said to consist
of a central mass with two subordinate wings; its
entire front is accentuated by a line of six Doric columns;
and it stands two stories in height. It was very appropriately
named in honor of Professor John B. Minor.
On the upper floor of this building, the books of the
department were deposited. It was estimated, that,
during the long interval between 1826 and 1895, the
Board of Visitors had not appropriated altogether for
the law library as much as one thousand dollars. Beginning
in 1895, that body, from time to time, provided
sums sufficient to increase the number of volumes to a
point that rendered them, by 1904–05, a very fair nucleus
for a really imposing collection. As we have seen, these
books had been, for many years, stored in the basement
of the Rotunda,—a situation encompassed with
many inconveniences. By 1908–09, nearly ten thousand
volumes had been accumulated. During this session,
a notable addition was made to the collection by Professor
James Barr Ames, of the Harvard Law School,
in the shape of three hundred and fifty volumes of the
English Law Reports, which brought the issue fully up
to date. By 1909–10, the law library was in possession
of a practically complete set of all the State reports in
spite of their heavy cost. Those of Delaware, for instance,
had required an outlay of twenty-five dollars
per volume.
Through the generosity of W. W. Fuller, an alumnus
who had won distinction and fortune in the practice of
law, the library received a fund of ten thousand dollars,
the income of which was to be devoted to the purchase
of additional books. During the session of 1910–11, an
accession was obtained through the bequest of Judge
Lambert Tree, another alumnus who had risen to eminence
in the same profession. He left the larger part
of his collection of law books to the law library.
A set of Maryland reports was also received from
Joseph Wilmer, a brother of the late Skipwith Wilmer,
of the Baltimore bar. By this time, the collection of
the decisions of the American and English courts of
last resort was substantially without a gap. The library,
in 1913–14, contained about 12,700 volumes, and it was
in the care of a thoroughly competent librarian, Miss
Lipop, and her assistant. By 1916–17, the number of
volumes had increased to fourteen thousand.
How many students attended the classes of the department
of law during the years of the Ninth Period?
In the course of 1904–05, about two hundred registered;
during the session of 1908–09, approximately two hundred
and ninety-four; but, in 1910–11, the number sank
to one hundred and ninety. This decline followed the
adoption of the three-year course. It could not be told
until the session of 1913–14 whether this shrinkage
would be permanent, for it was not until then that the
new rule was to come into full operation. The upshot of
the attendance was, at that time, encouraging,—the
number of students was two hundred and seventy; but,
in 1915–16, it fell to two hundred and fifty-one; in
1916–17, to two hundred and thirty-five; and in 1917–
18, to ninety-nine. Only eighty members of the several
classes were really present. This remarkable decline
was due to the pressure of the war, which made, from
the beginning, the heaviest draft upon the schools in
which were enrolled the young men of mature years.
The number of degrees of bachelor of laws won during
the Ninth Period by members of the department ranged
from fifty in 1904–05 to seventy-four in 1908–09; and
fell off from ninety-six in 1909–10 to fifty-two in 1914–
15. In 1910–11, there were only fifteen graduates; but
this was attributable to the extension of the course.
So thorough was the preparation which the graduates
received for their future profession that Dean Lile was
able to declare in his report to the President in March,
1910, that, since the adoption in Virginia, in 1896, of
the rule that all applicants for a license must be examined
by the Supreme Court of Appeals, there had been proportionately
only a small number of failures to meet that
test among the winners of the University's law diploma;
indeed, that as many as ninety per cent, of the students
who had carried off the coveted degree had passed successfully
those exacting examinations for admission to
the bar.
Another proof of the superior character of the tuition
was to be found in the excellence of the journal issued
by the law department. In June, 1913, the Board of
Visitors appropriated one thousand dollars for the support
of this periodical, which was to make its first appearance
in the following autumn, under the direction
of an editorial board of twenty-five students chosen on a
scholarship basis from among the members of the junior,
intermediate, and senior classes. Eight numbers were
to be published annually. The law faculty was to serve
only in an advisory capacity. This review was established
as planned, and soon ranked with similar reviews
issued by the law departments of Princeton, Harvard,
and Yale Universities. During the session of 1916–17,
in a lecture on the Barbour-Page foundation, Dean Wigmore
referred to it as one of the best of its kind published
in the United States.
