Mitchell on Law
Winter 2008WILLIAM MITCHELL COLLEGE OF LAW MAGAZINE SAINT PAUL | MINNESOTA
Farewell to Professors
Kirwin and Pannier:
A Commitment to Passion for the Law
By Lisa Harden
PDF, 1 page
Professor Kenneth Kirwin was one of the architects of Mitchell’s nationally recognized WRAP program (Writing & Representation: Advice & Persuasion) in 2000 after serving for many years as coordinator of its predecessor, Legal Research and Writing. Throughout his career he found time to research the areas of professional responsibility, criminal procedure, and workers’ compensation.
On sabbatical: He worked with the legislative Ad Hoc Study Committee of the Minnesota Non-Felony Enforcement Advisory Committee on a revision of the criminal code and the traffic code and testified before the legislature.
Years at Mitchell: 37
WRAPing it up: “Mitchell’s WRAP program is a way for students to connect theory to practical skills. They learn how research connects to interviewing and counseling a client.”
Teaching style: Problem method. He said he has had students apply law to factual scenarios and develop an approach to solving it.
What he’ll miss most: “The first-year students. They are so enthusiastic. You see the progress they’ve made and the connections they make with WRAP adjuncts.”
Professor Russell Pannier developed new courses and forums for Mitchell students to dissect law and literature. He created Mitchell’s “Logic for Lawyers,” “Philosophy of Law,” and “Comparative Constitutional Law” courses. He started the William Mitchell book club in 1990 with former student Randy Tietjen ’90, partner at Robins, Kaplan, Miller and Ciresi, and Judge Harriet Lansing of the Minnesota Court of Appeals. The club has read 188 tomes and is still going strong.
Favorite class taught: Logic for Lawyers
Years at Mitchell: 28
Plans for retirement: Finish writing three books: one on Thomas Aquinas; one on a new approach to logic; and one on the philosophy of language, the mind and the theory of possibility with co-author Thomas Sullivan from the University of St. Thomas.
Comment from a former student: “Russ embodies everything I wish I could possess myself: kindness, intelligence, gentleness, thoughtfulness, unpretentiousness,” said Randy Tietjen ’90, partner, Robins, Kaplan, Miller and Ciresi, who co-founded the Mitchell book club along with Pannier and Judge Harriet Lansing of the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
Book every law student should read: Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevski.
Most satisfying part of teaching: The students.