Flynn, Michael

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Nova Law ReviewVolume 28, Issue 2 2004 Article 9A Tribute to Professor Larry KalevitchMichael Flynn∗∗Copyright c©2004 by the authors. Nova Law Review is produced by The Berkeley ElectronicPress (bepress). http://nsuworks.nova.edu/nlrA TRIBUTE TO PROFESSOR LARRY KALEVITCHMICHAEL FLYNN*It is truly an honor for me to write this tribute to Professor LarryKalevitch.This is a time when the legal profession and legal educators lament theloss of both the formal and informal mentoring processes for young lawyers.I am of another time! I had the great good fortune when I began my careeras a lawyer to be mentored by some exceptional lawyers in the WashingtonState Attorney General's Office. I particularly, with much fondness, recallRich Montecucco and Mort Tytler, two very different people who introducedto me the practice of law.My good fortune continued when I arrived as a raw law teacher at theNSU Law School. A healthy part of that good fortune came from the coun-sel, criticism, and comments of Professor Larry Kalevitch. We both taughtcourses in the same subject area--commercial law, him from a businessper-son's point of view, and mine from a consumer protection point of view.Larry always welcomed a good, friendly, heated debate, ones which I cameto cherish. From these debates, I learned how to engage my students in thesame kinds of dialogues and debates in class. This represents only a smallpart of what Professor Kalevitch taught me about being a law teacher. Hiswillingness to take me under his wing when I needed mentoring, encourage-ment, or just plain help makes Larry a true colleague. I will always be grate-ful for what Larry has given me, as will his students and many other lawprofessors, both from NSU and beyond.I would be remiss if I did not end this tribute with a story, because withProfessor Kalevitch there are many stories. Several years ago Larry and Iwere preparing a videotape covering Article 2 of the Uniform CommercialCode. This videotape was allegedly one segment of an entire teaching pack-age that was to be made for a trip that Larry, myself, and other faculty mem-bers were scheduled to take to Russia. We talked about the production ofthis videotape, which we were told should be essentially a "talking head"performance. Neither of us liked the idea of just being talking heads! Wedecided that to appease the people in charge that we would alternate seg-ments in which all of the provisions of Article 2 of the Uniform CommercialCode would be covered. Then we decided to recreate for posterity part ofour continuing debate over the application of the Code provisions from thebusinessperson's and the consumer's perspective. For this part of the video-* Professor of Law, Shepard Broad Law Center, Nova Southeastern University.1Flynn: A Tribute to Professor Larry KalevitchPublished by NSUWorks, 2004NOVA LAW REVIEWtape we each donned appropriate attire-hardhats. The hardhats clearlyidentified which side of the debate we each represented. What transpiredwas our takeoff of the Saturday Night Live point-counterpoint segment usu-ally performed by Dan Ackroyd and Jane Curtin. You can speculate whowas who in our debate. Needless to say, because of the rather salty language,this part of the videotape took several repeats and skillful editing to producethe final version. It was all we could do to keep from laughing during theentire taping. We both agreed that we should not quit our day jobs to go intoacting or stand-up comedy!This videotape is working proof of one of Larry's comments to me-you can take the work seriously but do not take yourself too seriously. Thisis a lesson and an experience I will always take with me!My good fortune of being mentored by Professor Kalevitch ended muchtoo soon. There is so much more I want to learn from him. I miss his coun-sel, his criticism, and our debates. Professor Kalevitch's legacy lives on, inpart, in my teaching and in me. I can only hope that one day I will have theopportunity to give back what Larry has given me-the opportunity to be amentor to my students; and perhaps, a mentor for a fledging law professor,like I was when I met Larry.[Vol. 28:2:3032Nova Law Review, Vol. 28, Iss. 2 [2004], Art. 9http://nsuworks.nova.edu/nlr/vol28/iss2/9

A Tribute to Professor Larry Kalevitch

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A Tribute to Professor Larry Kalevitch

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