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Introduction
This tribute honors Joseph Edward Ulrich, who in thirty-one years on the W&L law faculty and in recent years as one-called-out-of-retirement, attained legendary status amidst fellow giants Roger Groot, Uncas McThenia, and Lash LaRue.
Joe has been a teacher in the truest sense. For him, the fifty-five minutes of class were not for traditional parsing of cases but for probing the lawyer's role in all its sticky and subtle variations. As one of his Torts students commented on a course evaluation: "Very interesting. Class time never dragged. Tried and succeeded in making Torts seem real. He put forth much effort to let us experience the real world through 'trials,' 'conferences,' 'arguments,' and guest speakers. He did not allow the course to be simply a class." Another student similarly recognized Joe's design: "Practical approach to becoming a lawyer. Very effective. I've learned things that I will remember in twenty years." A third summed up, "I personally consider him one of the finest professors I have ever known and I hold him in the highest estimation."
With these comments, we can see Joe in the front of his classroom. We can hear that inimitable voice, sense his wit, and relish his hands-in-the-pockets refusal to wrap up ideas in tidy deceptive packages. Joe wanted more. He wanted his students to think in ways they had not thought before, and he saw value in their occasional discomfort as they developed the habits of professional work. In a 1987 edition of the Law News, Gene Cutright affectionately profiled Joe's strategy, pointing out "how often Ulrich says, ? just don't know what to tell you,' or 'We just don't know' in analyzing problems in the study of law." Cutright added, "He also is noted for his use of the 'reverse Socratic method' : 'I'll give the answers, and you ask me the questions. ' " Perhaps this is what a student recalled when writing on another evaluation form: "Felt a lot of pressure at first, which I guess was good. . . . Halfway through semester, pressure let up and class became delightful. Best 'thinking' training out of all my classes."
But it was not only students who recognized the genuine difference that Joe Ulrich offered, it was the faculty,...