Armour, Maureen N.

Spector, Mary B.

English

Southern Methodist University

SMU Law ReviewVolume 65 | Issue 4 Article 42012Roark Reed - Remembering a ColleagueMaureen N. ArmourSouthern Methodist University, marmour@mail.smu.eduMary SpectorSouthern Methodist University, mspector@mail.smu.eduFollow this and additional works at: https://scholar.smu.edu/smulrPart of the Law CommonsThis Tribute is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at SMU Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in SMU Law Review byan authorized administrator of SMU Scholar. For more information, please visit http://digitalrepository.smu.edu.Recommended CitationMaureen N. Armour, et al., Roark Reed - Remembering a Colleague, 65 SMU L. Rev. 749 (2012)https://scholar.smu.edu/smulr/vol65/iss4/4ROARK REED-REMEMBERINGA COLLEAGUEMaureen Armour*Mary Spector**PROFESSOR Roark Reed accepted the offer from Southern Meth-odist University (SMU) in 1975 to move to the State of Texas andcreate a brand new Criminal Defense Clinic.' At that time, he wasa young criminal defense lawyer and had most recently been a supervis-ing attorney in Georgetown University Law Center's criminal defenselawyering clinical training program. 2 In recounting the origins of theCriminal Defense Clinic, Emeritus Professor of Law Walter Steele givesmuch of the credit for Professor Reed's move to Texas to the studentsand their desire to expand the Law School's nascent clinical educationprogram.At that time, the school's clinical program generally reflected the stateof clinical education in America:3 a patchwork of programs, some graded,others not-graded. Some were taught by faculty on tenure track workingclosely with adjunct supervising professors, which was the model Profes-sor Reed used in working with Mike McCollum. Other programs of theday were taught by full or part-time non-tenured faculty, like SMU's Tax* Associate Professor of Law and Co-Director SMU Civil Clinic at Southern Meth-odist University Dedman School of Law. B.A. 1979, Simmons College; J.D. 1986, Benja-min N. Cardozo School of Law.** Associate Professor of Law and Co-Director SMU Civil Clinic at Southern Meth-odist University Dedman School of Law. B.A. 1970, University of California at SantaCruz; M.S.W. 1974, University of California at Berkeley; J.D. 1981 Southern MethodistUniversity School of Law.1. The SMU Dedman School of Law Criminal Clinic continues to supervise studentattorneys in the Criminal Courts of Dallas County. The Clinic Director is Professor Chris-topher Jencks, and the two supervising attorneys are Mr. Mike McCollum and Ms. BrookeBusby. Mr. McCollum came to the clinic soon after Professor Reed arrived and co-di-rected the Criminal Clinic for many years with Professor Reed. The Law School offers anarray of criminal courses and has been privileged to claim as alumni over the years manymembers of the local criminal bar, the district attorney's office, the U.S. Attorney's office,and the judiciary who serve in Dallas' state and federal courts.2. Georgetown University Law Center's clinical training program is one of the largestand most well-respected programs in the country providing training for law students andfor future clinical faculty.3. Bryan L. Adamson et al., Clinical Faculty in the Legal Academy: Hiring, Promo-tion and Retention, 62 J. OF LEGAL EDUC. 115 (August 2012) (a cogent summary of theTask Force on the Status of Clinicians and the Legal Academy's findings). This articlereflects the evolving role of clinical education and educators as stakeholders in the debateover the role and future of legal education. Id. The article also notes, somewhat circum-spectly, the resistance that still exists within the academy to granting clinical education andclinical faculty a full and equal voice. Id.749SMU LAW REVIEWClinic,4 funded by seed money from an outside donor and staffed by ad-junct faculty member Mr. Bruce Hart. The school also had a small, vol-unteer legal aid project-begun in the late 1940's-which allowedstudents to provide limited legal services in the community under the su-pervision of a faculty member.5If you walked into the basement of Storey Hall today looking for theclinics you wouldn't recognize it as the same place Professor Reed en-tered thirty-five years ago. Although still in the basement, 6 it is self-con-tained in a recently renovated wing. However, there is much truth to thesaying that "the more things change the more they remain the same." Forexample, only a few years before Professor Reed arrived in Dallas, theAmerican Bar Association had promulgated a Model Rule to permit lawstudents to practice law under the supervision of a clinical law professor.7Texas promulgated its own version in 1971, and amended it in 1975 "forthe purposes of providing competent legal services for all persons andfurnishing practical training to qualified law students and qualified unli-censed law school graduates."8 The student practice rules put in placewhen Roark Reed began his career at SMU are the same rules in effecttoday.Nevertheless, just as there have been changes in the physical space thelegal clinics occupy at SMU, there has been significant changes in clinicallegal education over the past thirty-five years. Prior to the ABA's ModelRule, only fifteen states permitted student practice; by the time of Profes-sor Reed's retirement, all fifty states, eight of eleven federal circuits, andmany, many federal district courts had enacted some form of studentpractice rule.9 Today, students in American law school clinics practice insubject areas ranging from criminal defense to civil litigation and every-thing in between, including child advocacy, immigration rights, humanrights, juvenile justice, poverty law, community development, entrepre-neurship, intellectual property, housing, elder advocacy, and intellectualproperty, just to name a few. Indeed, during the time of Professor'sReed's tenure at SMU, the law school was host at one time or another to4. The Tax Clinic Director during much of this time period was Mr. Bruce Hart, whois now retired. Mr. Larry Jones took over as Director of the Tax Clinic when Mr. Hartretired; Mr. Jones is also Director of the Small Business Clinic, which he developed as anoffshoot of the Tax Clinic.5. One of the founding faculty members was Professor Joseph McKnight, who devel-oped a family law project in response to student demand and community need and begansupervising students in the delivery of legal services to the poor, in addition to his normalteaching duties. This project evolved into the Civil Clinic, which is directed today byProfessors Maureen Armour and Mary Spector.6. See Maureen Armour & Mary Spector, Epilogue: Theory in the Basement, 51 SMUL. REV. 1555 (1998).7. See MODEL CODE OF PROF'L RESPONSIBILITY Canon 3, EC 3-5 & n.3 (1969), re-printed in COUNCIL ON LEGAL EDUC. FOR PROF'L RESPONSIBILITY, INC., STATE RULESPERMITTING THE STUDENT PRACTICE OF LAW: COMPARISONS AND COMMENTS app. A, at44-46 (2d ed. 1973).8. TEx. R. STDT. PRAC. R. I (West 2012).9. Frank G. Arellone, The State of State Student Practice: Proposals for ReformingOhio's Legal Internship Rule, 17 OHIo N.U. L. REV. 13, 13 n.1 (1990).750 [Vol. 65Roark Reed-Remembering a Colleaguespecialized clinics in domestic violence, immigration, and prosecution,and by the time of his departure, the offerings included criminal defense,general civil litigation, consumer advocacy, tax, small business, and childadvocacy. Like the programs at other schools, SMU's clinical programsalso promote a clear social justice mission as they provide legal servicesto clients who might otherwise be excluded from or marginalized by thelegal process.' 0In addition to the variety of subject areas in which law clinics operate,there is a richer, more fully-informed pedagogy as a result of a growingbody of clinical scholarship." Much is owed to the MacCrate Report,which provided one of the first clear statements of lawyering skills andprofessional values and urged law schools to take steps to integrate theteaching of them throughout the curriculum. 12 The vision of the Mac-Crate Report has been reflected recently from slightly different perspec-tives in studies and reports relating to legal education.13 Although manyin the clinical community claim the changes proposed by the MacCrateReport, and repeated in the Carnegie Report14 and the Best PracticesReport' 5 have come too slowly because of institutional resistance, clinicaleducation is an accepted and essential stakeholder in any current dia-logue about the nature and future of legal education.Like clinical faculty nationwide, clinical faculty at Dedman School ofLaw use a mix of seminars, one-on-one tutorials and case discussions;however, faculty members' teaching and students' learning is not con-fined to these settlings. Teaching and learning in all of the clinics occursin the day-to-day supervision of students' work as lead lawyers on theircases. They investigate facts; research law; and draft pleadings, discovery,and correspondence. They prepare for and take depositions, argue mo-tions, conduct mediations, and negotiate resolutions of disputes. Theypick juries, conduct opening and closing statements, examine and cross-examine witnesses, and, when necessary, they handle appeals. They re-10. In the SMU Dedman School of Law Child Advocacy Clinic, directed by FeliciaOliphant, (student) clinic attorneys are appointed as the guardian-attorney ad litem forchildren who have been removed their homes. The clinic attorneys must do in-depth factinvestigation and work with the prosecuting district attorney, the state agency, Child Pro-tective Services, and the parents' attorney. The clinic attorneys work at the interstices ofthe social welfare system, the medical system, and the legal system and are provided inter-disciplinary training to help them discharge their duties to their young clients.11. See, e.g., Susan Bryant & Elliott S. Milstein, Rounds: A "Signature Pedagogy" forClinical Education?, 14 CLINICAL L. REV. 195 (2007); Jon Dubbin, Clinical Design for So-cial Justice Imperatives, 51 SMU L. REV. 1461 (1998); Stephen Wisner, Beyond SkillsTraining, 7 CLINICAL L. REV. 327 (2001).12. Robert MacCrate was the chairperson of a task force of the American Bar Associ-ation and author of its report, AM. BAR Ass'N, SECTION OF LEGAL EDUC. AND ADMIS-SIONS TO THE BAR, LEGAL EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT-ANEDUCATIONAL CONTINUUM: REPORT OF THE TASK FORCE ON LAW SCHOOLS AND THEPROFESSION: NARROWING THE GAP (1992).13. SULLIVAN ET AL., EDUCATING LAWYERS: PREPARATION FOR THE PROFESSION OFLAW (Jossey-Bass 2007) (the Carnegie Report).14. Id.15. Roy STUCKEY ET AL., BEST PRACTICES FOR LEGAL EDUCATION: A VISIoN AND AROAD MAP (CLEA 2007) (the Best Practices Report).2012] 751SMU LAW REVIEWpresent clients in courts, administrative hearings, and creditors' meetings.At each step along the way, clinic faculty are working with students byreviewing and editing written work; mooting oral presentations for hear-ings or other formal or adversarial settings; and reviewing and editingwritten work.Much of the change in clinical education can be thought of as a form ofevolution in the implementation of core principles and values. Yet, thisevolution cannot hide the fact that practicing law is a demanding profes-sion and the niceties of the classroom can't mask the challenges of prac-tice. Clinic attorneys learn early that tenacity and fearlessness in a lawyerare almost as important as their legal research skills.Whether as a newly-minted clinical faculty or a senior member of thefaculty, Roark's core, like the core of clinical education, did not change.Roark's passion from the first to the last day of his career at SMUDedman School of Law was defined by two values that shaped his teach-ing in the classroom and in the courtroom. First, he was passionate aboutthe role client-centered, zealous advocacy played in the legal system inTexas, America and abroad. Second, he was passionate about the rolestudent autonomy and responsibility in the courtroom play in creatingclient-centered advocates.Yet, just as clinical education evolved over time, so did ProfessorReed's career. It began with the development and supervision of theCriminal Defense Clinic where he advocated the use of small-grouplearning within the academy.16 It moved to the teaching podium, wherehe taught courses in legal ethics and criminal law as well as practical skillscourses such as trial advocacy. At the same time, he also considered theimplications his work might have for legal systems abroad, as in his workwith Japan's legal system. Even as a senior member of the faculty, hecontinued to find new ways for students to learn, as in the death penaltyseminar he developed that allowed students to work with local attorneyshandling death penalty appeals as a form of experiential learning.Professor Roark Reed never lost his passion for zealous advocacy orfor turning law students into lawyers. He was fearless and tenacious inpursuit of these goals from his first day in Dallas until the end of hiscareer. Maybe it's true after all: "The more things change the more theystay the same."16. Roark Reed, Group Learning in Law School, 34 J. LEGAL EDUC. 674 (1984).[Vol. 65752

Roark Reed - Remembering a Colleague

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