Giving Back to Clinics: Investing in the Future Practice of Law

When Roger Haydock settled in Minnesota in 1969, he had a freshly minted J.D. from De Paul University in Chicago, a Reginald Heber Smith Community Lawyer ("Reggie") Fellowship, and plenty of idealism about making the civil justice system better for indigent people. What he didn't have was practical experience. There was no mentoring program available for young attorneys in public service, and the expectation was that you were on your own until you learned to be a good trial lawyer.

Roger was not alone in thinking that approach could be improved, and he helped instigate a training program for student interns at Legal Assistance of Ramsey County. Simultaneously, he was teaching as an adjunct professor at William Mitchell, a predecessor school of Mitchell Hamline. A few years later, he and Rosalie Wahl were hired on a full-time basis to launch the law school's pioneering clinical program.

"It was the late '60s, early '70s," explains Roger, "so there was an activist environment. People felt law school should be more relevant and help people. So the movements around public service and a more practical approach to legal education coalesced. Dean Doug Heidenreich had the foresight to give Rosalie and me a lot of freedom.

"It was a confluence of forces—the school's mission and policies; the student's expectations and needs; the arrival of other clinical professors, such as Mel Goldberg and Bob Oliphant; the commitment of the local bench and bar-all those elements made the clinical program a reality."

There was even a serendipitous bequest that contributed to the clinical program's early development. A neighbor with no connection to William Mitchell, other than seeing law students coming and going through the local streets, willed his house to the college. The property became the legal clinic's first home, with bedrooms pressed into service as offices and a basement converted into a classroom.

Now, of course, the 13 clinics are housed in more sophisticated facilities. And Roger and Elaine Haydock are also choosing to invest in the clinical program's potential, by making a significant bequest to its clinical program for continued innovation and leadership in the practice of law.

"William Mitchell gave me the ability to develop as a lawyer and a professor," says Roger. "Helping build the clinical program has been so very enjoyable and rewarding. So there's a feeling of gratitude, of wanting to give back to the community. Also, the college embodies the mission and values that Elaine and I have for the next generation.

While he considers himself quite fortunate to have played a role in the formation of the clinical program, Roger says its success took the efforts of a large team of people, working collaboratively, cooperatively, and collegially. As he sees it, the leaders of the college are simply stewards, coming together at a particular moment in time and fulfilling a human obligation to share one's talents and leave things better for those who come after. He and Elaine, and their family, "simply want to feel that we contributed something."