Quintin Johnstone, '38, 1915-2014

Quintin Johnsone, '38, was a professor at Yale Law School for more than 55 years. The following is taken from his Yale Law School obituary.

Yale Law School Professor Quintin Johnstone died in June 2014 in Hamden, Connecticut. Johnstone was the Justus S. Hotchkiss Professor Emeritus of Law at Yale Law School. He was 99 years old.

"Quintin Johnstone was an iconic figure at the Yale Law School,” said Dean Robert Post ’77. “He taught here for more than 55 years, and perhaps instructed more students than any other teacher in the School’s history. His mastery of the intricacies of property law was treasured by generations of students, as were his insights into the legal profession. He was still actively teaching at 96 years of age. We shall miss him deeply. A treasured landmark has passed away.”

Johnstone was an expert in property, land transactions, and professional responsibility and the legal profession. In his more than 55 years as a professor at Yale Law School, he taught courses in the fields of real property, professional ethics, legal problems of developing countries, conflict of laws, criminal law, torts and legislation.

Johnstone was the author of three books: Lawyers and Their Work (1967) (with D. Hopson); Paralegals: Progress and Prospects of a Satellite Occupation (1985) (with M. Wenglinsky); and Land Transfer and Finance (4th ed., 1993) (with A. Axelrod and C. Berger). He was also the author of many articles, including "Title Insurance," 66 Yale Law Journal 492 (1957); "The Federal Urban Renewal Program," 25 University of Chicago Law Review 301 (1958); "An Evaluation of the Rules of Statutory Interpretation," 3 University of Kansas Law Review 1 (1954); “The Lawyer in the Year 2000: The Private Practitioner,” 25 Alabama Law Review 13 (1972); "Government Control of Urban Land Use: A Comparative Major Program Analysis," 39 New York Law School Law Review 373 (1994); and "Unauthorized Practice of Law and the Power of State Courts: Difficult Problems and Their Resolution," 39 Willamette Law Review 795 (2003).

Born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1915, Johnstone earned both an A.B. and a J.D. from the University of Chicago. He received an LL.M from Cornell in 1941, and a J.S.D. from Yale Law School in 1951.