Tribute to Dean Lawrence Raful

• Publication year: 2022

37 Creighton L. Rev. 829. TRIBUTE TO DEAN LAWRENCE RAFUL

Creighton Law Review

Vol. 37

PATRICK J. BORCHERS(fn*)

Sometimes you get lucky. We deans talk and not every relationship between predecessor and successor dean is a happy one. I'm lucky; mine is a happy one.

I had the great fortune of succeeding Larry Raful as Dean of the Creighton Law School in 1999. Larry served eleven fruitful years and much of the modern institution of Creighton Law School owes a great deal to him. Singling out his most important accomplishments is difficult, but the two that occur to me are the creation of the Milton Abrahams Legal Clinic and the massive renovation of the Klutznick Law Library.

The creation of the Clinic was a vital and important step for the School, both educationally and in fulfillment of its Jesuit service mission. Of course, just about anyone can pay lip service to the creation of a law clinic and be supportive of it in some abstract sense, but Larry was truly committed. In fact, he succeeded in raising endowment money for the Clinic so that it operates as a self-sufficient institution.

The $3.6 million dollar renovation of the Library was an equally...