Younger, Irving

Younger, Irving (b. Yoskowitz) (1932–88) lawyer, law professor, judge, author; born in New York City. He attended the Bronx High School of Science, graduated from Harvard (1953), and after two years in the army went on to take his degree from New York University Law School (1958). After working with a private New York law firm (1958–60), he served as an assistant U.S. attorney in Manhattan (1960–62) before opening his own law firm with his wife, Judith Weintraub Younger, herself later a professor and dean at the law school of Syracuse University. He served as a judge on the Civil Court in New York City (1969–74) and taught law at New York University before joining the law faculty at Cornell (1974–81); he also held guest professorships at Columbia, Georgetown, and Harvard Universities. He joined the Washington, D.C., law firm of Williams and Connelly (1981–84), and then became a professor at the law school of the University of Minnesota (1984–88). A leading scholar of evidence and an authority on trial techniques and civil procedure, he made many audio and video tapes on these topics, used by generations of law students in preparation for their exams; his tapes inspired the popular series of lectures by "star" college professors. He was famous for his ability to cross-examine witnesses and was also well known for his wit and theatrics in lectures and the courtroom. A man of broad learning, with a deep feeling for music, theater, and literature, he published many articles and several books, including The Art of Cross-Examination (1976), Principles of Evidence (with Michael Goldsmith, 1984), and he wrote a column on persuasive writing for the American Bar Association Journal.