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DEAN JOSEPH M. LIVERMORE: 1973-1977 

Before Arizona Law

Joseph M. Livermore was born in Portland, Oregon, and relocated to Phoenix, Arizona, where he attended North Phoenix High school.^[1] Livermore earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Dartmouth College.^[2] He graduated at the top of his class^[3] with his Bachelor of Laws degree (LLB) from Stanford University School of Law in 1961.^[4]

Following graduation from law school, Livermore served in the U.S. Army’s Judge Advocate General Corps.^[5] Before pursuing teaching, he practiced law in San Francisco at the Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison law firm.^[6] Livermore taught at the University of Minnesota College of Law for eight years,^[7] during which time he was also a visiting professor at Stanford Law School.^[8]  At one point, Livermore took time off  from teaching to prosecute federal cases as an Assistant United States Attorney.^[9]

Tenure as Dean 

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Livermore was appointed dean of the University of Arizona College of Law in 1973.^[10] He admitted that during his four years as dean, he focused primarily on securing a new building for the College of Law because the structure they had – the Franklin building – was “very cramped and unhealthy…”^[11] To raise funds, Livermore and others started hosting College of Law dinners during which he and other faculty members and alumni persuaded legislators and stakeholders that a new building was necessary.^[12] After much effort, Dean Livermore finally secured funds for a new law school building.^[13] He said that the most satisfying aspect of getting the new building was planning the layout and working with the architect to ensure that the space was large enough to accommodate growing class sizes.^[14]

In addition to appropriating funds for the new building, Dean Livermore received $50,000 in 1975, which helped raise the law library budget to $115,000.^[15] He also added new faculty members, including the College of Law’s first female member of the faculty, and revised the legal writing program.^[16] Dean Livermore stated that he was proud of the improvements made to the writing program and included them as one of his accomplishments.^[17]

According to former Dean and Professor Emeritus Charles Ares, Dean Livermore made the law school more efficient by “…insist[ing] that every program in the law school be reexamined, and abandoned or altered if its value could not be demonstrated in fairly concrete terms.”^[18] During Dean Livermore’s tenure, the American Bar Association (ABA) inspected the law school. The ABA ranked the University of Arizona College of Law at the top of law schools in its class.^[19]

Retirement and Beyond 

Livermore retired as dean in 1977.^[20] Dean Livermore was described in a tribute as “…the kind of colleague you turned to, not just for an answer, but for a solution.”^[21] Staff fondly remembered students visiting and speaking with Dean Livermore in the old Franklin building.^[22]

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After retirement, Livermore continued to research, write, and teach full time at the College of Law.^[23]  The courses he taught were criminal procedure, evidence, legal professions and legal writing.^[24]

Livermore was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals in 1985.^[25] He served for over a decade, retiring in January 1997.^[26]

In 1986, Livermore and his spouse, Elaine, opened the Footprints of a Gigantic Hound bookstore in Tucson, where they sold mystery novels.^[27] The bookstore name was in honor of The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Sir Author Conan Doyle. The Livermores had a Labrador retriever and later an Irish wolfhound, who resided in the store and kept the customers company.

In 1996, Livermore returned to the College of Law to teach criminal law, criminal procedure, and intellectual property.^[28]

Livermore passed away on September 28, 2011, at 74. He was survived by his wife, Elaine, and his son, Caleb.^[29]

-- Tanya Furlong (’26)