Students who accept an invitation for membership in the Society are able to participate in both Valparaiso’s Luther M. Swygert Memorial Moot Court Competition and one interscholastic competitions.
In memory of the late Judge Luther M. Swygert, Mrs. Gertrude Swygert, his wife and Professor Michael I. Swygert, his son, established an endowment at at the Valparaiso School of Law for the creation of an annual moot court competition to celebrate Judge Swygert’s memory and special relationship with Valparaiso University School of Law.
Judge Swygert graduated from Notre Dame Law School in 1927 and was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana. President Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated Judge Swygert to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana in 1943. Judge Swygert served as the Chief District Judge until 1961, when President John F. Kennedy nominated him to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Judge Swygert sat on the the Seventh Circuit until 1987. He was the Chief Circuit judge from 1970-1975 and became a Senior Circuit judge in July of 1981. Judge Swygert continued to hear appeals until 1987.
Judge Swygert was awarded an honorary doctor of law degree from Valparaiso University during the dedication ceremony of Wesemann Hall, in 1963. Judge Swygert was the first ever jurist in residence at the School of Law and taught an innovative seminar, “Language and the Law.” His son, Michael Swygert, graduated from the School of Law in 1967, ranking first in his class. Additionally, Michael Swygert also was the Editor-in-Chief of the inaugural issue of the Valparaiso University Law Review. Michael Swygert received his L.L.M. from Yale Law School in 1968 and is currently a professor at Stetson University College of Law, in St. Petersburg, Florida.
