Volunteer Profile: Jay C. Carlisle '69
As a member of UC Davis School of Law's first graduating class, Jay C. Carlisle '69 has many fond memories of the Law School's earliest days. He can recall the camaraderie between students and the founding faculty, classes that took place in makeshift bungalows and various rooms around campus before King Hall was built, the sometimes unconventional nature of his classmates, and most of all, the outstanding education he received.
"We had a really fascinating group of students and very good teachers, including some very well-known scholars, so when we graduated and went out into the legal world trying to get jobs, lawyers knew that UC Davis was a serious place to study law," said Carlisle.
Carlisle credits the education he received at King Hall for providing the basis for a successful career that has included more than 30 years on the faculty of Pace Law School in New York, and says he feels a responsibility as an alumnus to help support the Law School.
"We were able to go to law school for about $300 per year, and yet we received an education that was just outstanding," said Carlisle. "I've often felt that those of us who graduated years ago and who now have had some success should make it a priority to support the Law School and the students who are there today."
Carlisle has served as a Mabie Challenge volunteer, contacting classmates and urging them to give to the King Hall Expansion and Renovation project and help meet the participation goals set forth in the Mabie Challenge, in which the William and Inez Mabie Foundation has committed to pledge up to an additional $500,000 to the project if alumni give in sufficient numbers.
As one who remembers the day former Chief Justice Earl Warren came to UC Davis to dedicate King Hall, Carlisle knows the important role the building plays in the Law School community. "The facilities were not good during the first and second year before we moved into King Hall, and we often had classes in temporary buildings or in different places around campus, so when we moved into our own building, things improved for all of us," Carlisle recalled. "The fact that they managed to bring Earl Warren there to dedicate the building to Martin Luther King made it even more meaningful."
After graduation, Carlisle went to New York to study at the School of International Affairs and the Institute of Latin American Studies at Columbia University, and then worked in civil rights litigation before finding his niche in legal education. He has published extensively in the area of civil litigation, procedure, and professional responsibility, and has served on numerous professional boards and commissions including the New York State Law Review Commission, the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, and the Westchester County Bar Association. He has accepted several Bar Association awards for his pro bono service, and the American Bar Association and the American Law Institute presented him with a Harrison Tweed Special Merit Award for his contributions to continuing legal education.
He credits several members of the Law School's faculty for providing training and direction that set him on course for success. Edward Barrett, Dan Dykstra, Edgar Bodenheimer, Ed Rabin, Frank Baldwin, Jim Hogan, Paul Savoy, and Homer Angelo all made an impression, said Carlisle.
"They were outstanding, and they really inspired us," he said. "I've done a lot of public service work throughout my career, and I think my experiences at King Hall were very much a part of my motivation."