Tribute to John Pickering.

• Author: Ginsburg, Ruth Bader
• Position: Includes 13 testimonials - Michigan - Testimonial

Ruth Bader Ginsburg *

John Pickering was a grand human whose life is just cause for celebration. He taught constantly, through his own work and deeds, how lawyers in private practice can contribute hugely to the public good. John's dear friend, my revered D.C. Circuit colleague, Carl McGowan, spoke of the lawyer of technical competence content to be a working mason. The best of lawyers, Judge McGowan said, serve as architects, planners, builders in law. Along with high technical competence, the best of lawyers have a deep understanding of the nature and purposes of the law, which makes them wise and reliable counselors, broad-gauged advocates and planners, sensitive to the requirements of a just and orderly society and to currents of change. John Pickering fit that description to a T.

Early in his lawyering days, John was employed at my current workplace. His clerkship with Justice Murphy, in the 1941 and 1942 terms, accounted for his auspicious debut as an advocate. The very first appellate argument John made was in the Supreme Court, in 1946, just after he completed his World War II service in the Navy. John was appointed to represent an indigent defendant in a mail fraud case. His next day in court, John would hasten to tell you, was less impressive. He represented a chauffeur in a traffic violation case lodged in the District's old municipal court--and lost.

That court is no longer with us. John was one of the planners who studied the District court system in the 1960s, then issued a report recommending the judicial structure that remains in place today.

He was one of the founders of a firm that started up in 1962 with nineteen lawyers, now grown upwards of 350 strong just in the Capital City, a firm that, from its beginning, devoted large time and talent to public service and pro bono representation.

John was counsel to a party or a friend of the Court in dozens of headline Supreme Court cases, among them, the Steel Seizure Case; the Claiborne County, Mississippi, NAACP Boycott case; the physician-assisted suicide cases; and the University of Michigan affirmative action cases.

I first met John at the start of the 1980s, soon after he completed his term as D.C. Bar President. I was then a very new judge on the D.C. Circuit. John visited me in the company of Brooksley Born. Their mission was to consider whether gender bias existed in D.C. courts, particularly bias of the unconscious kind. In making that inquiry, they were well ahead of the time.

In the American Bar Association (ABA), as in his D.C. Bar endeavors, John was a steadfast promoter of public service, civil rights, legal education, and professional excellence. At every place he found himself, at every stage of his career, John demonstrated his special skill for using the law to make things more than a little better.

In his senior years, his life was brightened, his spirits kept high, by his partnership in marriage with Helen Wright, who is to me the very model of all a truly great lady should be.

John attributed the good life he led to what he called a "free pass" at the start: gaining a first job fresh out of law school with the Cravath firm, without pounding any pavements, then his clerkship with Justice Murphy, whose caring about the morality of law touched John deeply. In truth, John's pass was not so free, given his outstanding performance at the University of Michigan Law School and the several student pieces he wrote for the Michigan Law Review.

During his long and good life in the law, John received scores of honors and awards, including in 1999 the ABA Medal, the American Bar Association's highest honor, awarded for "conspicuous service in the cause of American jurisprudence."

He was both a devoted public servant and the quintessential Washington lawyer, well described by his colleague and friend, Charles Horsky: "The Washington lawyer," Horsky said, "is a principal interpreter between government and private person, explaining to each the needs, desires and demands of the other."

May I conclude with the words John himself used to describe the Justice he served with devotion and affection, for they suit John so very well: "His hands were filled with acts of kindness."

(1.) CHARLES A. HORSKY, THE WASHINGTON LAWYER: A SERIES OF LECTURES DELIVERED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE JULIUS ROSENTHAL FOUNDATION AT NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW, IN APRIL 1952, 9-10 (1952).

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States.

Evan Caminker *

I had the great fortune to work with John Pickering during my own stint as a young associate at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. One of my first projects at the firm was to assist John in writing an amicus brief in the landmark right-to-die case involving Nancy Cruzan. Learning to draft a Supreme Court brief from such a master advocate was a memorable experience. Of course, John taught me a great deal about first-rate brief writing, but much more significantly, he illustrated by example the possibility and importance of marrying reason with passion, and of dedicating one's energy and talents to causes that speak to the heart.

It was during this time, working together, that I first learned of the depth of John's commitment to the University of Michigan, as evidenced by the frequency with which John sported a maize and blue bow tie.

John earned his B.A. from the University in 1938, and his J.D. from the Law School in 1940. John understood the degree to which his alma mater had served him, and he took seriously the responsibility of giving back as a mentor and as a leader. He constantly devoted his time and energy to ensuring that others enjoyed access to the same educational experience and life lessons.

Among other contributions, John served as the national chair of the Law School Fund at a time when public universities first began anticipating significant erosions in state financial support. He served on the Law School's Committee of Visitors for forty years, perhaps encouraged by the coincidence in scheduling of Committee meetings with fall football games in the Big House.

He was, at the time of his passing, an honorary chair of the Law School's Campaign Steering Committee, and for many years he had the ear of the Dean, offering sage counsel on any number of issues concerning the student educational experience or the school's relationship to the bar and professional practice.

Near the end of his career, John's service to the university and service to his vision of the public interest converged in his offer to have his law firm spearhead the University's defense of its affirmative action admissions policies. While John did not handle the tremendously challenging day-to-day lawyering, he relished the ability to play armchair quarterback and provide moral leadership and strategic direction.

He once remarked to me that the litigation brought together his three primary passions in life: the Michigan Law School, the pursuit of social

Caminker, Evan, Dean of the University of Michigan Law School. Dean Caminker's remarks were read by John Payton.

justice, and the Michigan Law School. He had a twinkle in his eye about the relative emphasis of priorities, of course. But I thought this comment nicely captured the connection John always felt deep in his heart between his law school educational experience and his lifelong interest in pursuing social justice.

Earlier this year, John announced a substantial gift to the Law School, to establish a Justice Frank W. Murphy Seminar Room. John had been a law clerk to Justice Murphy, who also had been an alumnus of both the University and the Law School. According to John, it was during his clerkship with Justice Murphy that John first appreciated the importance of and the personal satisfaction to be found in championing the legal rights of oppressed or disregarded individuals. John hoped "that the activities in this seminar room will include learning that advances the public interest and other themes championed by Justice Murphy." This gift embodies what John cared for most, and it will serve not only as a tribute to the Justice, but also as a testament to his own influence on these same values.

John may well be the exemplary Michigan alumnus of his generation. He took advantage of the intellectual development and professional training provided by the law school and became one of the preeminent lawyers in America. He took to heart the school's valuation of citizen lawyers doing public service, and engaged in a lifelong effort to advance the cause of justice. And he learned to sing "The Victors" with the best of them.

He will forever have a special place in the Michigan alumni family, and will be sorely missed.

Raymond C. Clevenger *

This is my homage to John. I ask you to summon up in your imagination today a grand circus, a sort of Cirque du Soleil of lawyers: full of shining talents performing legal feats of wonder, but presided over by a grand ringmaster. This ringmaster knows his performers very well. He knows how to train and stroke them to high achievement. He knows how to groom the younger workers. He can keep his stars in check. He knows when to sit back with a smile, letting his charges perform and claim the applause, even when the applause rightfully belongs to him. When his performers bicker, as they often do, he cajoles them back into their act. When they sulk, he cheers them up. John Pickering is this ringmaster.

In my judgment, he was the but-for cause of the firm's great success. Without John, I do not think the firm...