St. Louis University names new dean of law school

St. Louis University handed the reins of its law school to a former Missouri Supreme Court chief justice.

The move came just a day after the abrupt, and colorful, resignation of interim dean Thomas Keefe, who proclaimed himself “politically incorrect” for the job. Taking over the law school is Michael Wolff, a SLU professor who served on the state’s highest court from 1998 to 2011.

Wolff, who could not be reached for comment, comes to the helm of a school dealing with leadership turmoil as it prepares for a move to downtown St. Louis. He is the school’s third leader in less than a year.
In a note to students Tuesday afternoon, Wolff addressed recent events.
“We have faced challenges this year, and the past few days have been particularly unsettling, but I truly hope that our recent problems have not personally affected you in any way,” Wolff wrote. “As we look to the future I promise you that I will communicate with you directly, personally and with your best interests foremost in mind.”

The strange chain of leadership moves started last August, when former Dean Annette Clark announced her resignation in a scathing letter targeting university leaders, including SLU’s president, the Rev. Lawrence Biondi.

Among other things, Clark complained about being left out of key decisions — including the law school move — and about dishonesty on the part of administrators.

Clark, who has since left SLU, had taken the leadership position only a year earlier.

On the day she resigned, the school announced that Keefe, a trial lawyer who also serves on SLU’s board of trustees, would become interim dean for the 2012-13 academic year.

He didn’t quite make it.

On Monday, he announced he was resigning amid controversy over alleged insensitive comments.

“I have chosen to step down because obviously there have been statements made about things I have done, and in all likelihood I’ve done them all,” Keefe told.

Keefe said one of the comments that landed him in trouble was his remark that he had gotten “drunker than 10 big Indians.”

Keefe, who hopes to remain a trustee, does not challenge whether he made such a remark.

“The truth of the matter is that to the extent that folks are after my scalp for saying inappropriate things, chances are the size of my mouth I might as well have said all of them,” he said.

Keefe’s sudden departure apparently forced the school to move quickly on its decision for a permanent replacement.

On Monday, a spokesman said the school was close to the end of a national search that had yielded two finalists. They included Wolff and Anthony “A.J.” Chivetta, a partner at the Armstrong Teasdale law firm.

Early Tuesday, the school revealed its choice in Wolff, who served as the Missouri high court’s chief justice from 2005 to 2007.

According to his faculty Web page, Wolff returned to SLU in 2011, where he was the first director of the Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Law & Advocacy. He received his law degree from the University of Minnesota. Before being appointed to the Supreme Court, he spent 23 years at SLU’s law school.