The first course to emphasize the defects of the legal process and the duty of lawyers to remedy them, 1934-1992

Pirsig's course brochure, c. 1948 (click to enlarge)

Professor Pirsig began teaching his Judicial Administration Course in 1934 at the University of Minnesota Law School. His case book was published in 1946. He taught the course until the early 1990's.

Dean, Everett Fraser, selected Pirsig to create the course in 1928, according to Fraser, "I believe, this was the first course in any law school that emphasized the defects of the legal process and the duty of lawyers to remedy them."

It was Pirsig's view that the purpose of the law is to advance society, not merely restrain it, and this attitude shaped all his thinking," David Lindberg.

Letter - Request to do research at Harvard Law School, and work in London, c. 1928

Letter - Pirsig's travel letter issued by dean Fraser, 1930

Casebook - Excerpts: Preface; Contents; Cases; Articles, 1946

Book Reviews - ABA, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, U Pennsylvania, 1946 - 1947

Pirsig's Judicial Administration Course Lectures Recorded in 1946

 
The recorded discs on display at Mitchell Hamline School of Law
  
Audioe - 4 hours, 10 minutes

Transcription - 74 pages

Excerpt, "...to tolerate the kind of thing that goes on in our courts, through this adversary system, ought to cause every judge and lawyer to hang their head in shame." Pirsig (quote from lectures).

Thanks to Julie Mielke, Mitchell Hamline librarian, for lending the records and other help.

Minnesota Legal Aid Director, 1925-1930


National Legal Aid meeting, Denver, Colo. Sept. 4-5, 1930 Pirsig, 4th from Left (click to enlarge)

Pirsig, served as director of the Minnesota Legal Aid Society from 1925-1930. Age of 24-29. In the Minnesota Supreme Court Library Interview (on this site) he said"I saw how the legal system worked, and failed to work in many instances, and that led me to reflect on what is the function of the law, how does it work, what do we do about it when it doesn't work." 

Photo - sitting at his Legal Aid office desk, mid 1920's

Interview, University of Minnesota Law School, 1977


 Roscoe Pound's 1906 St. Paul, MN speech, led Dean Fraser to send Pirsig to study with Prof. Pound. P. 16 

Link to pdf - 53 pages

Thanks to Ryan Greenwood, University of Minnesota Law School Librarian for sharing this document.

Minnesota Supreme Court Library Videotaped Interview, 1990

Still image from videotaped interview

Court History; developments in legal education; Pirsig's path. Near the end of the interview he briefly discusses his son's book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Video - 1 hour, 38 minutes 

Notes - some of the topics discussed

Encyclopedia Britannica Legal Ethics Definition, 1974

Maynard E. Pirsig's definition of Legal Ethics for Encyclopedia Britannica, 1974.

    Article - 3 pages

University of Minnesota Law School films filmed by Professor Pirsig, narrated by his son, author, Robert M. Pirsig, 1930's-1950's

Still image from the video, Dean Fraser and family

Everett Fraser, Stefan Riesenfeld, Arthur Pulling, Maynard E. Pirsig, and other University of Minnesota Law professors and family. Filmed by Professor Pirsig, 1930's - 1950's. 

Narrated by Prof. Pirsig's son, author, Robert M. Pirsig, mid-2000's

Video - 3 1/2 minutes