Ralph L. Brill (December 19, 1935 – June 21, 2019) was Professor of Law at
Chicago-Kent College of Law
Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school affiliated with the Illinois Institute of Technology. It is the second oldest law school in the state of Illinois. It is ranked 91st among U.S. law schools, and its trial advocacy program is ranked in ...
.
Early life
Brill was born in
Chicago
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, the son of
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
*** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...
immigrants. He attended the
University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...
, where he received both his
undergraduate degree
An undergraduate degree (also called first degree or simply degree) is a colloquial term for an academic degree earned by a person who has completed undergraduate courses. In the United States, it is usually offered at an institution of higher e ...
and his
Juris Doctor. While in law school, Brill served as associate editor of the University of Illinois Law Forum. He was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1960. Brill's first case as an attorney was a dog bite case.
Establishing a legal writing course
Brill began teaching law school in the fall of 1960 at the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
in
Ann Arbor. He began his teaching career by teaching a subject outside the customary law school discipline — Legal Writing. Legal Writing was part of a course entitled "Problems and Research." It was at this time that Brill began to recognize the importance of including skills courses in the law school
curriculum
In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...
. Brill also became aware early on that "skills" teachers, such as those who taught legal writing, were treated differently from "substantive" (non-skills) teachers who were considered part of the regular
faculty. According to institutional protocol, non-skills, or "theoretical," professors were compensated at a higher rate and given more political power than were their peers teaching nontheoretical and pragmatically oriented courses.
Following his year in Ann Arbor, in 1961, Brill returned to his hometown when he was offered a position at Chicago-Kent College of Law which, in 1969, merged with the
Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour Institute and Lewis Institute in 1940. The university has prog ...
. Brill taught Property, Agency, Legislation, Damages and several sections of legal writing. For much of his later career, he has taught Torts. Recently, he added a Famous Trials in History seminar.
Legal writing program at Chicago-Kent
In 1977, Brill was asked by administrators at Chicago-Kent to set up a larger scale legal writing program. At that time, legal writing was still not considered an important discipline in legal study. Aside from a few programs, such as Marjorie Rombauer's program at the University of Washington, most legal writing departments consisted of one director and a staff of part-time instructors. Even when instructors were employed full-time, their contracts were most often limited to one or two years. These instructors were not considered "real" law school professors. In some instances, Legal Writing courses were staffed with individuals who were not legal
professional
A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...
s. Many legal educational institutions at the time maintained that skills teaching was the province of
law firms, and that the discipline of legal writing was little more than a remedial grammar course not appropriate, even if necessary, in a
graduate school
Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree.
The organization and stru ...
setting.
Recognizing that skills instruction went beyond a course in remedial grammar, Brill proposed a three-year legal writing program which would be taught by legal professionals, and would be of a uniform quality for all students. Brill further proposed that class sizes be reduced so that students would receive more individualized instruction. The Chicago-Kent faculty adopted Brill's proposal and the legal writing program at Kent not only became the
benchmark
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Science and technology
* Benchmark (surveying), a point of known elevati ...
for all law school legal writing programs, but Chicago-Kent became known for the high level of legal training that its students received.
Brill remained director of Chicago-Kent's legal writing program for fourteen years. During that time period and afterward, he worked to improve the status of the legal writing professional. In 1985, Brill became one of the original Board members of the
Legal Writing Institute (LWI), an association of legal writing professionals. Until the establishment of the LWI, legal writing professionals had few opportunities to exchange ideas or to compare experiences as to status at their schools. The LWI enabled them to band together in an attempt to enhance programs and status at their own schools.
While working toward national goals related to the profession of the legal writing professional, Brill continued to enhance the quality of his own program at Chicago-Kent. He helped to ensure that instructors in his own department, although not having the status of tenured faculty, were able to work without capped contracts. Moreover, Brill began, at the earliest stages of national computer use, to incorporate technology into his teaching by way of the use of
listservs and visual presentations in class. In the early 1990s, Chicago-Kent became known for its use of technology in law school, and Brill was instrumental in establishing
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of aca ...
(ABA)
accreditation
Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...
standards related to
distance learning
Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...
in law schools.
Brill stepped down as director of Chicago-Kent's legal writing program in 1992, but remained on the faculty of Chicago-Kent teaching Torts and Tort-related subjects.
Contributions within the field of Legal Writing
Although Brill is primarily associated with legal writing, his involvement in attempting to enhance legal education has been more expansive. Brill served as interim
dean
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Titles
* ...
at Chicago-Kent on two separate occasions in the early 1970s, and taught Torts throughout his entire tenure as director of Chicago-Kent's legal writing program. He continues to work with the school's
moot court
Moot court is a co-curricular activity at many law schools. Participants take part in simulated court or arbitration proceedings, usually involving drafting memorials or memoranda and participating in oral argument. In most countries, the phrase " ...
team and sponsors the Brief award for the Chicago-Kent's intraschool moot court competition. He has been chair of the
Association of American Law Schools
The Association of American Law Schools (AALS), formed in 1900, is a non-profit organization of 176 law schools in the United States. An additional 19 schools pay a fee to receive services but are not members. AALS incorporated as a 501(c)(3) n ...
(AALS) Section on Legal Writing, Research, and Reasoning and of the Individual Rights and Responsibilities Committee. Brill has been at the forefront of efforts to integrate computers into the law school classroom, and has spoken on issues related to replacing the traditional law school handwritten exam with an exam typed on a laptop.
In addition to his work in legal education, Brill has been active in the
Chicago Bar Association
Founded in 1874, the Chicago Bar Association (CBA) is a voluntary bar association with over 20,000 members. Like other bar associations, it concerns itself with professional ethics, networking among members, and continuing legal education. It is ...
and was the chief draftsperson of rules requiring State of Illinois lawyers to be responsible for continuing their legal education for the remainder of their careers. Brill has also been a consultant on numerous tort cases.
Despite stepping down as Director of Legal Writing, Brill continued to remain involved in the development of the field. In 1994, Brill established a legal writing listserv in conjunction with the Legal Writing Institute Conference held at Chicago-Kent that year. The listserv was expanded subsequent to the conference and enabled legal writing professionals to communicate on a daily basis concerning the development of their programs. The listserv membership, which grew from a handful of individuals to over a thousand members within ten years, became instrumental in enhancing the solidarity of the professionals in the field and the overall quality of programs across the nation. Professor Brill was also an early leader and continues to be involved with the Association of Legal Writing Directors (ALWD), which was formed to advance the political objectives of the profession.
In 1995, Brill, along with
Hofstra
Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of New ...
Legal Writing Professor Richard Neumann, worked toward lobbying the ABA to increase law school requirements for skills and writing instruction. The result was the ABA's adoption of increased requirements for writing during law school. In 1996, Brill, along with Susan Brody and Richard Neumann, argued that the ABA should change its standards regarding the protections and job security afforded Legal Writing professionals, and that adhering to these standards should be considered in determining whether a law school should be accredited. The result was the ABA's adoption of standard 405(d). Although this standard did not equate legal writing professionals to the status of tenured law school faculty, it did put legal writing professionals on more of an equal footing. Subsequent to the adoption of 405(d), many law schools determined that Legal Writing professors should be given even greater job protections and security than required by the standard.
In 1997, Brill along with Susan L. Brody, Christina L. Kunz, Richard K. Neumann Jr., and Marilyn R. Walter, collaborated on the Sourcebook on Legal Writing Programs. This book compiled information on existing programs of legal writing and gave recommendations for optimal programs. Recommendations included suggestions on class sizes and commentary on the need to improve the status and salary of legal writing professionals in order to enhance skills training in general. The Sourcebook became a standard for schools attempting to improve their own legal writing programs and put the American Bar Association on notice that the future of the quality of legal education necessitated taking notice that legal writing was integral to a quality legal education.
In recent years, both the ABA and law schools have begun to pay more attention to not only the status of the legal writing professional, but also to the quality of legal writing programs throughout the country. Currently,
U.S. News & World Report assesses the quality of legal writing programs when doing its annual rankings of law schools. The rankings of legal writing programs are based in part, on the status and security afforded legal writing professionals.
Recognition
Brill has received several awards for his commitment to legal education.
*In 1997, Brill was given the AALS Legal Writing, Research, and Reasoning Section Award for contributions to the profession of legal writing.
*In 2004, Brill received the Thomas F. Blackwell Memorial Award for his contributions to legal writing and legal education.
*In 2006, Brill received the Burton Foundation's "Legends of the Law" Award for "outstanding contribution to legal writing education".
*In 2007, Brill and Professor Molly Lien of The
John Marshall Law School in Chicago were jointly awarded the first Legal Writing Institute Terri LeClercq Award for Courage—an award established to reward acts of courage in advancing causes related to legal writing.
*In 2009, Chicago-Kent established an endowed visiting professor position in his name, the Ralph L. Brill Distinguished Visitor, with plans to eventually establish an endowed chair (the school's first) in his name.
*In 2011, the Association of Legal Writing Directors (ALWD) created the Brill Award to honor him for his 50 years of teaching and contributions to the enhancement of Legal Writing programs. Brill was the first honoree.
*In 2011, Professor Adrian James Walters of England's Nottingham Trent University was named IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law's first Ralph Brill Endowed Chair.
First Ralph Brill Endowed Chair
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References
External links
Chicago-Kent biography
Legal Writing Institute homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brill, Ralph
1935 births
2019 deaths
People from Chicago
Illinois Institute of Technology faculty
American people of Romanian descent
University of Michigan Law School faculty
University of Illinois College of Law alumni