Warren Olney Jr.

Warren Olney Jr.
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California
In office
March 1, 1919 – July 1921
Appointed byGovernor William Stephens
Preceded byM. C. Sloss
Succeeded byCharles A. Shurtleff
Personal details
Born(1870-10-15)October 15, 1870
San Francisco, California, U.S.
DiedMarch 25, 1939(1939-03-25) (aged 68)
Berkeley, California, U.S.
Spouse
Mary M. McLean
​
(m. 1899)​
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley (AB)
Harvard University (AB)
University of California, Hastings College of the Law (LLB)

Warren Olney Jr. (October 15, 1870 – March 25, 1939) was an American lawyer who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California from March 1, 1919, to July 1921.

Early life and education

Olney was the second of six children born to Mary Jane Craven (January 30, 1842 – 1928) and Warren Olney Sr. (March 11, 1841 – June 2, 1921), an attorney in San Francisco. Olney Sr. co-founded the Sierra Club in his law office with naturalist John Muir, and others, but was later expelled from the organization because he supported the flooding of Hetch Hetchy Valley to supply water to San Francisco. Olney Sr. was mayor of Oakland, California from 1903 to 1905.[1][2]

Olney Jr. was educated in the public schools in Oakland.[3] In 1891, he was graduated with an A.B. at the University of California, Berkeley, where he played on the football team.[4] He then studied at Harvard for a postgraduate year, receiving an A.B. in 1892, and returned to San Francisco.[5] In 1894, Olney received his LL.B. degree from the University of California, Hastings College of Law, and was admitted to the bar.[6][7]

Olney entered into practice with his father in Olney & Olney, and then Olney, Pringle & Mannon. He also from 1895 to 1904 taught law classes at Hastings[8] and when Berkeley opened its law school he lectured on evidence there from 1904 to 1907.[9][10]

In 1907, he joined the firm of Page, McCutchen, Knight and Olney, later known as McCutchen, Olney, and Willard (1913-1919).[5] His clients included Western Pacific Railroad.[11][12] From 1911 to 1919, he was counsel for the regents of the University of California.[13] Beginning July 1, 1932, he served as president of the alumni association for two years, and thus sat as a regent.[14][13]

Olney was appointed Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court by Governor William Stephens, and served from March 1919 to July 1921.[7][15][16] In November 1920, he was re-elected but left the court after a time to resume private practice with McCutchen, Olney, Mannon, and Greene (1921-1939)(later known as McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen and then Bingham McCutchen, until its collapse in 2014).[17]

In 1930 to 1932, he was a special assistant to the Attorney General of the United States in antitrust litigation concerning the Radio Corporation of America.[18]

Bar and civic activities

In 1917, Olney had charge of registration in California for the draft for World War I.[19][20] He served the Bar Association of San Francisco as president from 1926 to 1927, as his father had from 1901 to 1902.[21][3] From 1935 to 1937, he was a member of the U.S. Supreme Court's advisory committee on rules of civil procedure for U.S. District Courts.[22][23]

Personal life

In 1899 he married Mary M. McLean (July 25, 1873 – August 12, 1965) of Alameda, California, who graduated from the University of California and taught at Stanford and Pomona College.[13] They had two sons and a daughter: John McLean Olney, Warren Olney III, and Constance S. Olney.[4]

The youngest son, Warren Olney III (February 25, 1904 – December 23, 1978), became an attorney and practiced in his father's law firm.[4] He was appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower as an Assistant Attorney General to oversee the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice.[24][25] From 1956 to 1966, Warren III was Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.[26] He was appointed by Chief Justice Earl Warren, whom Warren III had served under in the California Attorney General's Office.[24][4] His son, Warren Olney IV, is a broadcast journalist in Los Angeles.

References

  1. ^ "Candidates Raise Voices in Favor of Pure Water, Warren Olney, Nominee for Mayor, and Other Speakers Declare Before Municipal League Gathering Domination of the Contra Costa Company Must Cease". The San Francisco Call. Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. February 26, 1903. p. 9. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  2. ^ "Mayor Warren Olney Announces His Desire to See United City". The San Francisco Call. Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. May 20, 1903. p. 9. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  3. ^ a b History of the Bench and Bar of California. Bates, Joseph Clement, ed. Bench and Bar Publishing Company, 1912. pg 453.
  4. ^ a b c d Stein, Miriam F.; Fry, Amelia R. (1981). Law enforcement and judicial administration in the Earl Warren era : oral history transcript of interview with Warren Olney III. Berkeley, CA: Regional Oral History Office, Bancroft Library, University of California. p. 1. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Two 'Square' Railroad Lawyers", The California Outlook. Vol 12. March 30, 1912. p. 16. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  6. ^ "Hastings Community". Hastings Alumni Publications. 81. San Francisco, CA: Hastings College of the Law Alumni Association: 22. Fall 1992. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  7. ^ a b Justice Warren Olney Jr., Supreme Court of California Resources, Robert Crown Law Library, Stanford Law School. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  8. ^ "Slack's Two Assistants, The Trustees Have Appointed Olney and Busley to the Positions". San Francisco Call. Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. August 31, 1895. p. 16. Retrieved June 30, 2017. Olney is the son of Warren Olney, a well-known attorney in this City. He is a recent graduate of the Hastings College and a student under Judge Slack.
  9. ^ "Warren Olney, Jr., 1870-1939", 27 Cal. L. Rev. 423 (1939).
  10. ^ "Revere Those Who Have Gone, Students and Faculty to Hold a Solemn Service, Walter Olney Jr. to Deliver Eulogium on the Departed". San Francisco Call. Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. February 26, 1903. p. 9. Retrieved June 30, 2017. Warren Olney Jr., a graduate of the University of California with the class of 1891, one of the instructors of jurisprudence, and a practicing attorney in San Francisco.
  11. ^ "W.P. Re-Elects All of Board and Officers". San Francisco Call. Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. October 23, 1912. p. 3. Retrieved June 30, 2017. The board of directors consists of...Warren Olney, Warren Olney Jr.
  12. ^ "E. L. Brown Succeeds C. H. Schlacks on Western Pacific; Jeffrey Retires". San Francisco Call. Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. July 14, 1913. p. 1. Retrieved June 30, 2017. Warren Olney, general counsel of the Western Pacific...
  13. ^ a b c "Shasta-Siskiyou Vacation Album" (PDF). Bancroftiana, an Occasional Publication of the Bancroft Library, University of California. 103: 1. January 1992. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  14. ^ Brower, Anne (September 11, 1976). Interview with Warren Olney III. CaliSphere. University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  15. ^ "New Supreme Court Judge". Coast Side Comet. No. 13. California Digital Newspaper Collection. June 10, 1921. p. 3. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  16. ^ "Olney May Quit Supreme Bench". Madera Mercury. No. 52. California Digital Newspapers Collection. Associated Press. June 4, 1921. p. 1. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  17. ^ "Olney to Be Candidate This Fall". Los Angeles Herald. No. 140. California Digital Newspapers Collection. April 13, 1920. p. B7. Retrieved June 30, 2017. Justice Warren Olney jr., a member of the state supreme court...announces he will be a candidate this fall for the short term which expires in 1923.
  18. ^ Blaisdell, Thomas C. (2003). The Federal Trade Commission: An Experiment in the Control of Business. The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. p. 245. ISBN 1584778652. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  19. ^ Address of Justice Warren Olney Jr.. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting, California Bar Association (1920). pg 159. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  20. ^ "Scene at Meeting of Officials for War Enrollment". Los Angeles Herald. No. 171. California Digital Newspapers Collection. May 19, 1917. p. 3. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  21. ^ "BASF Past Presidents". Bar Association of San Francisco. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  22. ^ "Report of the Advisory Committee on Rules for Civil Procedure" (PDF). United States Courts. April 1937. p. IV. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  23. ^ "Photograph of Members of the United States Supreme Court Advisory Committee on rules of Civil Procedure". Library of Congress. November 1935. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  24. ^ a b "Assistant Attorney Generals: Warren Olney III". U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division. February 3, 2016. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  25. ^ Olney III, Warren (1957). "A Governmental Lawyer Looks at Little Rock". California Law Review. 45 (4): 516–523. doi:10.2307/3478602. JSTOR 3478602. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  26. ^ Smith, J.Y. (December 22, 1978). "Warren Olney, 74, Court Official, Dies". Washington Post. Retrieved June 30, 2017.

See also

Political offices
Preceded by Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court
1919–1921 		Succeeded by