Saylors, Kristi N.

English

University of Denver

Denver Law Review Volume 66 Issue 3 Symposium - Dispute Resolution Article 3 February 2021 Dedication: John Phillip Linn Kristi N. Saylors Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/dlr Recommended Citation Kristi N. Saylors, Dedication: John Phillip Linn, 66 Denv. U. L. Rev. vii (1989). This Front Matter is brought to you for free and open access by the Denver Law Review at Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Denver Law Review by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact jennifer.cox@du.edu,dig-commons@du.edu. DEDICATIONJOHN PHILLIP LINNOn the occasion of his retirement from the University of DenverCollege of Law, the Board of Editors respectfully dedicate this issue toProfessor John Phillip Linn-educator, arbitrator, and artist. Rarelyhave these elements blended into a single, extraordinary career.An honor graduate of the University of Denver College of Law in1955, Professor Linn joined the faculty in 1958. One year later he wasappointed Assistant Dean, and he served in that capacity until 1965.During his thirty years of service to the College of Law, Professor Linntaught Labor Law, Labor Arbitration, Commercial Arbitration and Con-tract Law. A brilliant and demanding teacher, he encouraged his stu-dents to think creatively about the law, always urging them to go at least"one step beyond" what was required of them.Professor Linn always went that "one step beyond." Tirelessly de-voted to his role as educator, he adopted new texts in his final year ofteaching Contract Law and Labor Law, even though he had to preparenew notes and class outlines. He established and generously funded theJohn Phillip Linn Labor Law Award, and provided multiple awards inyears when he felt more than one student deserved the award.Students remember Professor Linn with affection and appreciation.They certainly remember the terrifying questions on his Contract Lawexaminations which read: "Tell me all you know .... ." But they alsoremember his immeasurable interest in each student's well being.Some students remember the time he conducted a seventy-minute lec-ture in total darkness when a tornado knocked out the electricity. Onestudent reported it was a "uniquely exciting educational experience."Professor Linn's arbitration courses were particularly favored bystudents because he asked them to assume roles of decision makers, notadvocates. Professor Linn delighted in the growing popularity of arbi-tration classes, which parallelled the growing recognition of arbitration'simportance. He steadfastly believed that in order to best serve their fu-ture clients and profession, law students should know all methods ofdispute resolution, not just litigation.Professor Linn has been an arbitrator for more than thirty years andhas developed a national reputation as an impartial arbitrator. He willcontinue to arbitrate both labor and commercial disputes in his retire-ment. In his career he has written over one thousand opinions andawards; none have ever been vacated or modified by a court.Professor Linn is the only arbitrator in the Rocky Mountain regionto have served as Vice President of the Board of Governors of the Amer-ican Arbitration Association. He was the first President of the RockyMountain Association of Federal Labor Relations Professionals. He wasDEDICA TION-JOHN PHILLIP LINNPresident of the National Organization on Legal Problems of Education.He has served as Special Master in labor related cases in state courts andfederal district courts in the Eighth and Tenth Circuits. The College ofLaw has been extremely fortunate to have this distinguished arbitratoras a member of the faculty.Professor Linn holds degrees in art and education from New YorkUniversity. A graduate of the Parsons School of Design, he drew theportrait of the patron saint of lawyers which appears on the certificatesof the Order of St. Ives, given to honor graduates of the College of Law.His approach to both arbitration and education mirrors his respect forthe artist's creative process. He compares legal analysis to the creativecomposition processes of such artists as Wassily Kandinsky, envisioningthe grouping of facts and legal theories on a palette, which his studentsrecognize as "the legal continuum." Facts and theories, like colors, maybe bold and have obvious impact, or may be subtle and appear to havelittle import until their ultimate relationships on the canvas producepowerful statements. Professor Linn emphasizes that with the initialplacement of a factual configuration on the canvas certain forces are cre-ated; through successive directional lines and engaging shapes andplanes (which are arranged according to laws of constructive counter-point and correlation) a refined balance of ideas emerges as the finishedcomposition of a convincing legal position.Kandinsky wrote that the ideal analysis involves precise investiga-tion of each individual phenomenon in isolation, the reciprocal effect ofphenomena in combination, and the general conclusions drawn fromthem. Professor Linn believes that just as the painter's vision does morethan sharpen the viewer's aesthetic sensitivities, legal analysis should re-veal new possibilities of expression that bring us closer to the perfectionof human enlightenment, as well as legal enlightenment.In the end, one cannot render such an illustrious teaching career ina single written portrait. The portrait does not live; instead, it is Profes-sor Linn's influence upon his students that lives. Upon his retirement,the Board of Editors thanks Professor Linn for showing his students thatlegal analysis, and life, can be stretched beyond a blank canvas in to therealm of possibility and enlightenment.Kristi N. Saylors1989]

Dedication: John Phillip Linn

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Dedication: John Phillip Linn

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