Spencer Neth: an appreciation.

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Date: 22 June 2009
• Author: Entin, Jonathan L.

Every successful institution needs unsung heroes. For the past thirty-nine years, Spencer Neth has been an unsung hero at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. At first glance Spencer seems unprepossessing, neither physically imposing nor especially outspoken. But, as is so often true, appearances are deceiving. Spencer is extraordinarily intelligent, literate, and thoughtful. It will take several people to fill the large shoes that he leaves behind.

Let me begin with Spencer's intellect. For the past decade he and I have been suitemates. There is a printer outside my office, so I have been able to see much of what Spencer reads simply by sorting through the printer's output. And he reads a lot, about almost everything that a legal scholar might find relevant. From commercial law to judicial administration to dispute resolution to civil rights and civil liberties to legal history and jurisprudence to computerized legal research (a field in which he was a pioneer), Spencer has encyclopedic interests. Those interests are reflected in the penetrating questions he has been asking at faculty workshops and the incisive suggestions he has offered to many colleagues over the years.

Unfortunately for the rest of us, Spencer has not published very much during his career. As a result, his intellectual legacy won't be as tangible as it deserves to be. But the relative brevity...