Law school is an experience unlike any other. Sometimes that experience is great. Sometimes it is not. Most times, it’s a little of both, and always, it is memorable. Similarly, no one law professor is like another, but you’ll remember them all, for the good, the bad, or the both, long after graduation.
Since its founding in 1895, Temple Law has had many outstanding professors in residence. As an alumnus – or current student – you likely have your favorites and least favorites. But whether they were stern, Socratic, quirky, brilliant, or all of these things, they all made an impression–on the faculty, on the legal profession, and, especially, on their students.
This article is about one of those professors — Someone who “may have had more impact on the law than anyone who ever taught here,” according to Temple’s former Dean, Robert Reinstein.
Who was he?
“An uncommon man…” – Arline Lotman, LAW 77’
“A stalwart of the faculty…” – Lawrence Reilly, Senior Reference Librarian (1974 – Present)
“Clearly an authority on his subject…” – Marc Furman, LAW 77’
“Tall.” – Professor James Strazzella, (1973 – Present)
His name was Fairfax Leary Jr. He taught at Temple from 1968 through 1977, after a long, illustrious career in practice, astonishing for its range of accomplishment.
Among his major achievements in the legal world: being one of the advisors to Karl Llewellyn and a drafter of various provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code, Army Colonel during World War II, Partner at Saul Ewing, Counsel for Ralph Nader, and a law professor at three Philadelphia-area institutions.
Born to an old Virginia family in Washington D.C. in 1910, Leary was, in every sense, pedigreed for success. The son of a distinguished Admiral (with his own Wikipedia page) “Fax” as he was known to close friends and family, grew up in DC, graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton, and later served as editor of the Harvard Law Journal.
He came to Philadelphia in 1946 after serving as a Lt. Colonel in the army in World War II. From 1946 until he joined Temple’s faculty he was, well, extraordinarily productive.
During this time he served as:
- Associate Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School teaching corporate law.
- First general counsel for the General State Authority in Harrisburg, specializing in bond counsel for schools and other public projects.[1]
- Partner at Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis practicing corporate and insurance law.
- General State Authority (again), this time as head of its legal staff.
- Partner at Saul, Ewing, Remick & Saul.
At some point, he also found time to draft the Uniform Commercial Code, which was adopted first in Pennsylvania-
And, from his resume, to do all of this:
But Leary wasn’t all business; According to his CV he also maintained a fine stamp collection.
Suffice to say that by the time he joined the Temple Law staff in the 1968/69 academic year, he had made significant contributions to the legal system. Even in that day, Temple was known for its practical law training, and in this, Leary excelled.
“He was highly respected in the commercial law field, at the time when there were not a lot of people teaching it. There were a lot of good practitioners, but not a lot of full-time professors,” said Professor James Strazzella, who joined the Temple Law staff shortly after Leary.
“His Patrician background was unusual for Temple faculty, and he was very famous among the legal community. As a result, students had very high expectations.” Said Reinstein, “As a colleague he was gregarious and friendly, but I know that as a professor he was trained in the old Socratic style.”
“From what I knew he was a very formal professor, and he expected a lot from his students,” said Strazzella.
Comments as to his teaching style vary, though all of his former students who shared their memories had positive things to say.
“Like the professor in the popular movie of the time, ‘The Paper Chase,’ he was demanding, but unlike that movie professor, he was not mean or cruel. I do remember one particular point he made: Leary admonished students who said there was a ‘policy’ reason for the court’s decision. A more precise answer was required, that is, a policy for or against a particular goal.” Henry Maurer, LAW 80’.
“He was always respectful of his students and clearly an authority on his subject matter. As a result, I enjoyed his class and was amazed that as a law student, we had professors of this experience and quality.” Marc Furman, LAW 77’
“You could tell he was proud of himself, as to his background and achievements, but I think he really enjoyed teaching the Temple students who were certainly more ‘working class’ than he was accustomed to.” Arline Lotman, LAW 77’
“I don’t remember much about his class but I do remember he invited all of us to a party at his beautiful house on the Main Line, which was a little intimidating for some of us.” Marilyn May, LAW 79’
Speaking of his status as a ‘Philadelphia Brahmin’, Professor Reinstein also recalled having dinner at the Leary residence in Villanova one night. Fax gave him the grand tour, which included a viewing of the dress his great-great-great-grandmother had worn when she danced with George Washington.
“I believe his family dates back to the Mayflower,” said Reinstein.
Given this blue-blooded background, it is noteworthy that while at Temple, Prof. Leary took a year (1971-1972) to serve as the first general counsel to the Public Interest Research Group, an organization created by the consumer-advocate (and later presidential spoiler) Ralph Nader after his 1971 Action for Change: A Student Manual. In 1977, Leary was forced to retire from Temple’s faculty having hit the (then mandatory) retirement age. Not content to become a full-time stamp collector, he went on to join the faculty at Widener University School of Law and remained there until he officially retired in 1987. He died in 1990.
Despite his relatively short time at Temple, Leary’s fascinating legacy lives on. The UCC, which he helped to craft and to enact, continues to influence practice; his scholarship continues to be cited.[2] And most of all, he lives on in minds of his former students.
“We could use more Fairfax Learys.” Arline Lotman, LAW 77’
Is there a former or current Temple Law professor you would like to see profiled in an upcoming 10-Q article? Let us know in the comments.
[1] The General State Authority was both an independent public corporation and governmental body created in 1935 to enable Pennsylvania to circumvent constitutional restrictions on its borrowing capacity. Since the state could not legally take advantage of federal grant and loan offers from the Public Works Administration, the Authority was given the responsibility of negotiating for the funds needed to expand and modernize state facilities. It has since been merged into the Pennsylvania Department of General Services.
[2] Perhaps with the exception of Horse and Buggy Lien Law and Migratory Automobiles, 96 U. Pa. Law Rev. 455 (1948).
I got to know Fax Leary not at Temple, but at Widener Law School in Wilmington, Delaware, where I was a visiting professor 1985-1986 while on leave from Temple. Fax had gotten an appointment there after being forced into retirement at Temple when he reached the supposedly mandatory retirement age of 70. I’m sorry to say he was quite bitter towards Temple for forcing him into retirement, and not finding some way to keep him on given his continuing productivity.
Would like to see “Great Professors” pieces on Herb Myers and Bob Hachenberg.