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Retired attorney and IU McKinney Adjunct Professor Michael Mullett, ’82, often quoted—and tried to practice—what he learned from Joan Ruhtenberg, former director of IU McKinney’s legal writing program.

Mullett did not have Joan Ruhtenberg as a professor, but met her after he graduated from law school and started a law practice. One of his clients was Citizens Action Coalition, which was engaged in litigation with the energy company PSI throughout the mid- and late-1980s. As litigation wound through the courts, Mullett taught legal writing with Ruhtenberg to help pay the bills, before the case was ultimately settled in favor of Mullett’s client. "I learned more about legal writing while working for Joan than I did while studying it in law school," said Mullett. 

Legal writing has “some science to it, some art to it, but it is skill that relies on both theory and practice,” Mullett said. “Joan is a gifted scholar who was able to transfer that skill to her students. I hope I was able to transfer some of that skill, too, even if not with the elegance and precision that Joan did.”

In gratitude and admiration for Ruhtenberg and her impact on law school education and on his own career, Mullett and his wife, Patricia N. March, created an endowment to fund the Joan M. Ruhtenberg Scholarship for Achievement in Life and Legal Writing. More recently, they added to their original gift in order to take advantage of the match offered by IU through the For All: The Indiana University Bicentennial Campaign.

Now in its 19^th year, the scholarship is awarded to a student who demonstrates excellence in legal writing, qualifies for financial assistance, and who has overcome obstacles in order to be admitted to the law school.

“The generosity of Mike and Patti is inspiring,” IU McKinney Dean Andrew Klein said. “They are making a difference in honoring Joan, who has made such a difference.”

Past recipients have included law students who are single parents and at least one student as a child in foster care. All recipients share the potential to change their own lives—and the lives of others—by graduating from law school, Mullet said.

“This is a scholarship for someone who starts law school and blossoms, who excels at or dramatically improves in legal writing. It recognizes their grit, hard work, and discipline. When you create a scholarship like this, you name it after someone you want students to emulate.

“Joan Ruhtenberg is that kind of person,” Mullett said.

            Read more about Joan Ruhtenberg’s influence as a professor of legal writing in the upcoming issue of The McKinney Lawyer alumni magazine.
Pictured: Patricia N. March, Professor Emerita Joan Ruhtenberg, and Mike Mullett