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The legal profession in Utah is not as rich as it was just one month ago. We have lost one of our finest teachers and exemplars of the law: Professor Lionel Frankel. Some of us spent a few
hours in the classroom with him some time during Lionel's long tenure. Maybe we learned enough Criminal Law or Commercial Code to get us through the Bar Exam. But more importantly, those
of us who have known Lionel through the years have learned something about how one should live.
At one time, all attorneys, upon passing the Bar took the Attorney's Oath. I'm not sure just when and why we stopped administering this Oath. Perhaps because it is impossible to enforce.
But Lionel personified it.
The Oath states: "I will abstain from all offensive personalities."I saw Lionel in many different situations, some very stressful. I never saw him exhibit the least offense, even
when sharply disagreeing. He was an uncommonly decent, humble, and gentle man, and yet he was effective in advocating his cause.
At a reception given by the law school to honor his retirement and to announce the new pro bono program, one speaker after another praised and eulogized him. When it was Lionel's turn to
respond, he stood at the lectern and said "Thank You"and sat down. It was shortest speech I ever heard, and it was typical of Lionel Frankel humility.
The Oath states: "I will never reject, from any consideration personal to myself, the cause of the defenseless or oppressed..."About two years ago, Lionel called to ask me to
serve on the board of a new innocence center he was founding. He explained the center was patterned after similar centers in other parts of the country, and the purpose was investigating
the claims of prisoners who maintained their innocence. He said that new DNA technology, not used when these prisoners were convicted, could now be used to determine for certain whether
they were truly guilty, and those who were not could be cleared and released from unjust and mistaken imprisonment. My first impression was: "that's all I need, another board to
serve on"And my first question was: "just how much time do you expect this to take?"
You see, I was inclined to reject, for a consideration personal to myself, the cause of the defenseless or oppressed. Lionel, on the other hand would never have rejected the cause of the
defenseless. The truth is: it would never have even crossed his mind. His nature was that he could never rest as long as there was one person in the world who was the victim of injustice.
In this life, of course, that meant he could never rest at all. And that is exactly what he did. He worked and fought against injustice until he died.
Some of us spent some time in Lionel Frankel's classroom; but all Utah lawyers can say we have learned from Lionel Frankel.
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