From the L.A. Times Obituary:
WILLIAM A. RUTTER
October 21, 1928 – February 2, 2012
William A. Rutter ("Bill") passed away peacefully Thursday evening, February 2nd, 2012, with his wife Sally, the love of his life, and all of his children, by his side.
Bill received his B.A. degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara; his M.P.A. degree from the University of California at Los Angeles; and his J.D. degree from the University of Southern California School of Law, where he was Associate Editor of the Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif. As a youth, he was an Eagle Scout; and as a young adult, Bill served our country during the Korean War.
Bill shared his knowledge and skills in almost every facet of the legal profession: as a practitioner, as a law school teacher, as a publisher, and as an author. For 15 years following his admission to the Bar in 1955, Bill maintained a general civil law practice, specializing in business litigation and appellate work. At that point, he withdrew from the practice of law and began his career as a visionary and trail blazer in legal education. Since then, Bill devoted his life to legal education and publishing law study aides and Practice Guides.
In 1979, he founded The Rutter Group, which grew under his leadership to become a leading and most highly respected provider of continuing legal education publications and programs in California and nationwide. The standards he set through the Rutter Group Practice Guides have been imitated but never matched.
Bill also wrote and published all of the original Gilbert Law Summaries, the most popular study aides for law students, and founded the BAR/BRI Bar Review, which became the largest Bar Review course in the country.
In 1996, Bill joined a very select group of legal scholars when the California State Bar Board of Governors honored him with the Bernard E. Witkin Medal recognizing those "who have altered the landscape of California jurisprudence." This honor particularly singled Bill out as an "extraordinary contributor to the California legal community."[read more] [JML]
