Stetson Lawyer; 1971 vol. 14 no. 1 May

\ ^tetjen <jjnwue/i Volume 14, Number I ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA May, 1971 RETIRING PROFESSOR CHOSEN TO ADDRESS GRADUATES Forty-One Seniors Will Receive Juris Doctor Degrees At May 31 Commencement Exercises A FAMILIAR ROLE. At May, 1970, Commencement, Professor - Judge Wehle passes out awards for excellence in Trial Practice. This happy recipient is graduating senior George Naze. Commencement exercises will be held in Crummer Auditorium, Monday, May 31, immediately following a dinner in the Great Hall in honor of the graduates at 6:30 p.m. Candidates for degrees will be presented by Richard T. Dillon, Dean of the College of Law. John E. Johns, President of the University, will confer, the Juris Doctor degree. Due to space limitations, admittance to the dinner will be by invitation only. The public is cordially invited to attend the formal exercises in the auditorium. Wehle Will Speak While for 41 graduating seniors, who will be joined for the occasion by 10 classmates scheduled to complete their requirements for a degree at the close of the summer session, the exercises are appropriately referred to as a commencement, for the honored guest and distinguished speaker, Victor O. Wehle, they mark the end of an era. For as the seniors step over the threshold of academic life to rendezvous with destiny in their chosen profession, Wehle will be drawing the curtain upon one phase of a long and illustrious career — his nearly two decades of service to Stetson College of Law. Professor Wehle, or "The Judge," as he is more familiarly known, began the practice of law in St. Petersburg in 1925, after receiving his law degree from Cornell. By 1945 he was a circuit judge, 6th Judicial Circuit. In his 9th year as judge he acquired another title, "Lecturer in Law," having undertaken to organize and teach a course in trial practice at the College, which was in the process of abandoning its DeLand quarters and relocating in St. Petersburg. On September 20, 1954, he was on hand, as a member of a small faculty, to welcome the first students, fewer than 100 in number, ever to attend classes on the present campus. From that day on the Judge taught at Stetson in one capacity or another until, in 1961, he became a member of the full time staff with the rank of "professor." Retires As Judge A staunch Democrat, Wehle lost his judgeship in 1954 when Pinellas County switched its allegiance to the Republican Party. In 1964, however, he was again on the Bench, first by an appointment from Governor Farris Bryant and, a few months thereafter, by mandate of the people in the fall elections. But even the seemingly tireless judge found the challenge of holding a judgeship and a professorship simultaneously too much of a drain upon his energies and, forced to choose between the academic or the judicial robe, he rendered a decision favorable to Stetson and stepped down from the Bench. Proud of His Students Though Wehle's contributions to the legal profession as a practitioner, a judge and a teacher, through a career of nearly half a century, are many, it is apparent that he derives his greatest satisfaction from the fact that today, in the City of St. Petersburg alone, there are I I 5 of his former students at Stetson engaged in the practice of law. It can be further noted that three of the present circuit court judges in Pinellas County also learned pleading and procedure and trial techniques in his classes, not to mention one of the county judges, two justices of the peace, and both juvenile court judges. Chair At Stetson "Retirement" to Judge Wehle is certainly not synonymous with inactivity. Already he is "booked" several months ahead to sit for vacationing judges in various cities around the state, and he admits that he might even be induced to teach again, "if needed," after a semester's "rest." In any event, whether it be in any official capacity or not, he is expected by students and faculty alike to remain a part of the College of Law for many more years. In fact, certain steps are being taken to make this expectation likely to occur. As one example, to assure the Judge an opportunity to continue to function as the raconteur non pareil of the College, a special chair has been suitably inscribed and set aside in the coffee shop for his exclusive use. There is even support for making its occupation by another an honor court offense.