Hugh Evander Willis (1875-1967) earned his LL.B from the University of Minnesota College of Law in 1901 and a LL.M the next year. He then joined the faculty of the law school and taught until 1913, when he left to become Dean of the Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles, California. During his tenure at the University of Minnesota, he wrote several books for students and practitioners. Among them was his textbook on bailments, published in 1910 by The University of Minnesota Press.
It was revised and republished in 1913 as "Cases on Bailments, Carriers and Public Callings," by H. W. Wilson Company of Minneapolis and, later, by Little, Brown & Company of Boston. The law schools in which it was assigned were listed in a "Directory of Case-Books" in the June 1918 issue of the Harvard Law Review:
"Bailments, Carriers and Public Callings, Cases on. By Hugh E. Willis, Dean of Southwestern University Law School. Little, Brown, & Co., Boston, Mass. 1913. 1 vol., 8vo, buckram, 1200 pp., (4.00. Leading cases, showing historical development and fundamental principles. Notes. Annotations, Abridgments. Remedies, Table of Cases and Index. In use at Creighton, Marquette, Montana, New Jersey, Ohio State, Southwestern, Texas, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, Yale, etc."
After leaving Minnesota, Willis had a long and distinguished career in academia. He taught at the Indiana University School of Law for many years, and was its acting dean during World War II. The following biographical sketch of Willis is posted online by the Maurer School of Law, University of Indiana:
"Hugh Evander Willis (b. 1875; d. 1967) served as Acting Dean of the Indiana University School of Law in 1942-43, while Bernard Gavit served as General Counsel for the War Manpower Commission. Born in Stratton, Vermont, he received his B.A. (1897) and M.A. (1899) from Yankton College. He received an LL.B. (1901) and an LL.M. (1902) from the University of Minnesota. Prior to teaching at the IU School of Law, Willis taught at the University of Minnesota Law School from 1902 to 1913. He then became the Dean at Southwestern University Law School in Los Angeles (1913-1915) followed by five years as a professor at the University of North Dakota School of Law (1917-1922), including two years as Dean (1920-22). In addition to serving as a Law Professor and Acting Dean at Indiana, Willis served as the University's varsity golf coach from 1935 to 1940."
============
Posted MLHP: August 10, 2016.
View Article