Hans Smit (1927-2012)

I have just learned from my colleague Tom Hazen that Hans Smit, who taught at Columbia Law School for more than fifty years, has passed away.  Cribbing now from his Times obituary:

For more than 50 years, Hans was a powerful presence at Columbia Law School, where he made a remarkable contribution to the institution, to generations of students, and to the field of international arbitration. After earning his LL.B. and LL.M. from the University of Amsterdam in 1946 and 1949, respectively, Hans worked in private practice in The Hague and New York City. He earned a master's degree at Columbia in 1953 and graduated first in his class with an LL.B. from the Law School in 1958.

 Here is his New York Times obituary.  And here is Columbia Law's announcement, which includes a vignette that will resonate with everyone who was Smit's student:

[Smit] was also an accomplished water polo player. He said he missed an Olympic spot with the Dutch national water polo team only because of a dispute with the coach, who suspended him for gambling instead of resting in the hotel during the 1947 European Championship in Monte Carlo. “In the middle of the day—it was absolutely ludicrous!” Smit told the New York Daily News in the early 1980s. “I told him I would get all nervous and sweaty trying to rest. Gambling was far more relaxing.”

With his powerful 6-foot-4-inch frame and refined throwing technique, Smit was relentless on offense, and he was considered among the world’s top water polo players in his prime. “Water polo balances my life,” he told the Daily News.

This is shocking news to me, because Smit loomed as such a large presence for everyone who was his student -- including me and I'm guessing Calvin Massey, too.  

Today is the first day of classes here in lovely Chapel Hill, so I have less time to reflect on this news than I'd like, but I do recall that one of the first law review articles I read was Smit's "The Enduring Utility of In Rem Rules" -- because I had him for civil procedure in my first semester and I was trying to get a gauge on his thinking.  Perhaps I'll have a chance sometime soon to go back and re-read that as a sort of memorial of Professor Smit.  His family are in my thoughts.

Update: Among the many stories people have been recalling about Professor Smit today is one about his house, along Riverside Drive.  Here is a Times story about it from a few years back.  I recall him joking about the building where Harlan Fiske Stone lived while he was a Columbia professor -- before going on the Supreme Court.  It had a plaque mentioning that Stone had lived there. And then he asked with a twinkle in his eye, "and do you know what the plaque out front of my house says?"  "351."  (Or some such number -- which was the street address.)

Comments

[Calvin Massey]

Al, you are correct, I had Hans Snit for Civil Procedure in my first semester of law school. He was an imposing presence and a skilled questioner. He used to ride his bicycle to and from school -- it was a very Dutch bike, and he had not lost the Dutch enthusiasm for pedal travel. He drew a distinction in that term between a court's jurisdiction and its competence. One of my classmates grumbles -- to this day -- that in nearly 40 years of law practice he has never encountered the distinction. Be that as it may be, it stuck with me (and my classmate) so Professor Smit continues to engage the mind of his students, many years later.
My thoughts and prayers are with his family.

[Alfred Brophy]

Yes--the distinction between jurisdiction and competence. I'd forgotten about that. And the bike, too. But now they've both come back to me. I remember eating at V&Ts, the pizza place down Amsterdam Avenue a couple of blocks from the law school with him and a bunch of students from our class. Good times!

[David Case]

I remember the jaunts to V&T for pizza and beer with Hans and how he was willing to buy the beer for you only as long as it was Heineken given his view that the only worthy beer was Dutch made. I enjoyed his classes and I enjoyed the out of class discussions with him. I also enjoyed the free Heineken and whenever I drink it today (I never had prior to Hans buying it for me) I always think of him as I forever will. RIP.

[Joe Liu]

Al, The water polo vignette does indeed resonate. His class is indelibly imprinted in my mind because it was by far the most traditionally socratic class I took at Columbia. I also remember his house on Riverside Drive, as he held a reception there during our first year - pretty amazing.