MIT Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science

MIT's Building 20: The Magical Incubator Story, Anecdote, or Reminiscence

A Memorable Occasion: A Very "Brief" Incubation

S. James Goldstein

Circa 1979, and with Corporation member Greg Smith presiding, my father-in-law (renowned attorney and legal scholar) and I met with senior members of the Linguistics Department in Building 20 to discuss his proposal for sponsoring research on fundamental processes of (a) the legal profession, and (b) the U.S. court system. A precis on the subject: Paper (i.e., briefs before trial) constipation of process ("justice delayed is justice denied", and outrageous "discovery" costs) in U.S. courts, vs. "the primacy of oral argument" in the U.K. (i.e., briefs after trial). While obviously fascinated by the subject, the Linguists urged my father-in-law to do the research and write the book himself, which he promptly did.