In late November, we received news that Tech Law had lost a legend. Bob Weninger spent over 40 years shaping the minds of thousands of future lawyers.
I had the pleasure of meeting Bob in 2015 when I started at the Law Library. We became fast friends as I assisted him with publishing what would be his last full-length piece on the Spanish class action. He told me about the on-site research he did in Spain to understand Spain’s fairly recent adoption of the class action regime, an area that has increasing importance in a globalized economy.
When strategizing about the publication process, we discussed, in detail, the title of his article and how it should entice a 2L to select the article for publication. On one of his weekly visits, he mentioned a conversation with John Krahmer where John recommended tying the article to the VW emissions scandal, which was all over the news. Eureka! That was it! And the title of his article was born: The VW Diesel Emissions Scandal And The Spanish Class Action.
He incorporated the VW scandal into the Spanish class action by taking a “law-in-action” approach. And the article was picked up by the Columbia Journal of European Law. Bob’s other work is regularly cited and has had a wonderful impact on the legal community. See recent citations here, here, here, and here.
His work will live on in our own archives and others and, will no doubt, continue to have an impact.
- Federal Rule of Evidence 408, Compromise Evidence: Trapping the Unwary, (a study of lawyer reaction to the use in criminal cases of civil settlement evidence), 26 Rev. of Litigation 401-56
- Jury Sentencing in Non-capital Cases: A Case Study of El Paso County, Texas, 45 Wash. U. J. Urb. & Contemp. L. 1
- The Abolition of Plea Bargaining: A Case Study of El Paso, Texas, 35 UCLA L.Rev. 265
- Factors Affecting the Prosecution of Rape: A case study of Travis County, Texas, 64 Va. L. Rev. 357
- Criminal Discovery and Omnibus Procedure in a Federal Court: A Defense View, 49 So. Cal. L. Rev. 514
- The VW Diesel Emissions Scandal and the Spanish Class Action, 23 COLUM. J. EUR. L. 91
The incomparable.
The Law School will hold a memorial service on campus. Please share condolences and favorite stories here.
The Reporter 