[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 53 (Tuesday, April 23, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4000-S4001]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        IN MEMORY OF JUDGE WILL

 Ms. MOSELEY-BRAUN. Mr. President, today, there is a memorial 
service for Judge Hugh Will, a distinguished Illinois jurist and active 
humanitarian, who died in December after a long and productive career. 
Unfortunately, my Senate duties prevent me from being in Illinois to 
share my memories of Judge Will with his family, friends, and 
colleagues, so I would like to take this opportunity to express my 
gratitude for his many contributions and my sense of loss at his 
passing.

[[Page S4001]]

  Judge Will had a long history of public service. Upon graduation from 
University of Chicago Law School in 1937, Judge Will came to 
Washington, working at the Securities and Exchange Commission, and then 
the Department of Justice. When the United States entered World War II, 
he served as chief of the Office of Strategic Services counterespionage 
branch in Europe. His country awarded him a Bronze Star for his work in 
organizing counterintelligence groups, which handled captured German 
agents. In 1946, he returned to Chicago, first working at the firm of 
Pope & Ballard, and then becoming a partner at Nelson, Boodell & Will, 
where he worked until 1961, when President Kennedy appointed him to the 
Federal bench.
  Thousands of cases came before Judge Will, all of which received the 
same high level of careful attention. His handling of complex, high 
profile cases was widely renowned, but he derived as much pleasure and 
satisfaction from smaller cases, where he provided solutions for the 
problems of ordinary people. He considered judging to be an art form, 
comparing the perfect trial to the perfect symphony. And what a 
conductor he was! No jurist, in any court, engendered the respect and 
admiration commanded by Hugh Will. He was at once a judges' judge and a 
``people person.'' His extraordinary intellect could at times be 
astonishing, but his overarching humanity was so much a part of his 
approach to the law that litigants were forewarned not to expect 
special interests ever to overcome the public good. He was a patriot, 
who retained an optimistic vision of America. That vision guided a 
consistent search for a living Constitution which kept faith with the 
highest ideals of our Nation. Had timing and opportunity been 
otherwise, Hugh Will would have distinguished himself and honored his 
country by serving on the Supreme Court of the United States.
  Judge Will's contributions to the judiciary do not end with his case 
law. He pioneered the use of innovative administrative procedures, such 
as establishing a final pretrial order now used in courts nationwide. 
His guiding hand helped many budding jurists at the onset of their 
careers. He served as a mentor for many judges and participated in 
seminars for newly appointed jurists for over 20 years. Finally, he 
served as lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit, challenging the 
congressional withholding of cost-of-living adjustments due to judges 
under Federal law. In 1980, the Supreme Court decided Will versus U.S. 
in favor of the judges, protecting the Constitutional separation of 
powers our Founding Fathers intended.
  Judge Will was also active in the community, serving on dozens of 
committees and boards of directors throughout his career, and receiving 
numerous honors and awards, including the Clarence Darrow Humanitarian 
Award in 1962. In 1991, he received one of the highest honors available 
to judges, the Edward J. Devitt Distinguished Service to Justice Award, 
bestowed by judges across the country to the Nation's outstanding 
jurists.
  Judge Will also showed strength in times of personal adversity. When 
his beloved daughter died in 1982 at age 39, Judge Will founded the 
Wendy Will Case Cancer Fund. The fund has distributed over $1.5 million 
to cancer researchers, in the hope that they may someday put an end to 
the suffering experienced by cancer victims and their survivors.
  Judge Will has served in many ways, he will be sorely missed by all. 
However, his legacy of service will live on, through his deeds, and 
most importantly through the people whose lives he has touched.
  I will miss him. He reached out to me, when I was just starting a 
career in the law, and became a mentor to me. Upon my election to the 
Senate, he sought to help me get established in the best traditions of 
this body.

                          ____________________