Introducing the Wm. Matthew Byrne, Jr., Judicial Clerkship Institute
Pepperdine Law
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- Message from the Dean
- Introducing the Wm. Matthew Byrne, Jr., Judicial Clerkship Institute
- A Supreme Honor
- A Memoir: A Moment. An Experience. An Oath.
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- A Look Back at Year One
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- Remembering the Good Ol' Days
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In Every Issue
Program Renamed to Honor One of Its Founders
story > Jovie Baclayon
In June, Dean Starr officially
renamed the law school's annual
Judicial Clerkship Institute in honor
of the man who helped establish it,
the Honorable Wm. Matthew Byrne,
Jr., who passed away January 12,
2006. Now, students who attend
The Wm. Matthew Byrne, Jr., Judicial
Clerkship Institute (JCI) will forever
be reminded of a man who truly
believed in the importance of law
clerks to judges and vice versa.
"Judge Byrne was a mentor, a friend and an inspiration," says Shelley Saxer, associate dean of academics. "He made everyone feel important, appreciated, and loved, and I thank God for having the opportunity to work for him and with him over the years."
Saxer spent one year as his law clerk and fi rst brought the judge to Pepperdine (her undergraduate alma mater) in 1990 to a reception for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Years later, she encouraged him to return to Pepperdine in 2000 to help think through Professor Robert Cochran's proposal for what became the JCI, the only national training program for students entering federal clerkships.
As one of the chief advisors in the creation of the JCI, Judge Byrne helped shape the course offerings and select the faculty from among the most highly respected federal judges. He was joined in this effort by founding judges Kenneth F. Ripple, Pamela Ann Rymer, and Thomas M. Reavley.
A native Californian and former law clerk, Judge Byrne held a seat as a United States judge of the central district of California since 1971. At 40, Judge Byrne was the youngest person named to the federal bench, where he served as chief judge from 1994 to 1998, and senior judge thereafter.
Since the JCI's inception, Judge Byrne taught the introductory class, "The Role of the Law Clerk." Sadly, he passed away before the 2006 JCI, but Saxer fondly remembers his visit in 2005, which happened to fall on Saint Patrick's Day, a day held close to the judge's Irish heart.
"It was especially poignant for me because I was able to illustrate fi rsthand to the clerks-to-be how the relationship between a judge and his or her law clerk is so special," she says. "As I have done every year since my clerkship, I had a Saint Patrick's Day surprise for the judge, but this time, I was able to deliver it personally to him in front of the future clerks in attendance."
Saxer is also helping put together a tribute to Judge Byrne in a special symposium issue of Pepperdine Law Review, scheduled for 2007. It will contain a set of essays written in his honor by numerous authors including Ron Olson, Weyman Lundquist, John Van de Kamp, John Tunney, Pamela Ann Rymer, Howard Matz, Mark Tuohey, Michael Lightfoot, and Malcolm Lucas.