Members of the legal community gathered at the University of Denver on Wednesday night to dedicate a new professional organization to the late Irving P. Andrews, a prominent lawyer and civil rights advocate.

“The very first step in his process is to recognize the suffering of those who are subject to injustice. To do so requires imagination and a pervasive understanding of human nature,” said U.S. District Court Senior Judge John L. Kane, who created Colorado’s first racially integrated law partnership with Andrews in 1962.

The Irving P. Andrews Inn of Court will focus on family, juvenile and probate law. Inns of court are intended to hold regular meetings and foster mentorship, with an emphasis on ethics and professionalism. Denver Juvenile Court Judge Laurie A. Clark told Colorado Politics the group has approximately 50 members and is the first to welcome licensed legal paraprofessionals — a new licensure in Colorado allowing for the limited practice of family law by non-attorneys.

Clark added that attorneys E. Michael Canges and Katayoun Donnelly had the idea to name the inn of court after Andrews.

Kane, the keynote speaker and a federal judge since 1977, spoke about Andrews’ childhood in Pueblo and Andrews’ relative isolation in his predominantly White neighborhood, which led him to become a voracious reader. Andrews served in the Navy during World War II, then attended Colorado College and DU’s law school.

“The White law firms did not hire minorities or women as lawyers, nor did the City and County of Denver. The few Black lawyers in private practice were solo practitioners who were not engaged in hiring newly admitted lawyers,” Kane said.

Andrews instead worked as a custodian and took occasional cases until he eventually was able to sustain a full-time law practice, largely in criminal defense. By the time Kane and Andrews formed their firm, Kane said, Andrews was a leading defense attorney and active in civil rights advocacy — including through his work on the landmark Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation case.

“He represented other civil rights organizations and defended civil rights workers and volunteers charged with various offenses for participating in nonviolent protests,” Kane said. “The core of his commitment was to end racism by ending segregation and developing integration nonviolently through negotiation, litigation and personal example.”

Kane explained that Andrews recognized the language learned in law schools did not resonate with most jurors, witnesses and clients.

“He knew that the law was not a synonym for justice, and these nonlawyers expected justice, not legal sophistry,” Kane said. “Injustice raises its ugly head whenever the illusion of equality is shattered. Whenever rules are applied differently for one than for another. Whenever false statements are made with utter disregard for the truth. And whenever intent is bereft of compassion.”

Those lessons, he concluded, were “the legacy of Irving Andrews.”

Andrews died in 1998. Civil rights attorney David Lane recalled working alongside Andrews as a defense lawyer near the end of his life, and Andrews’ specific advice as an attorney handling death penalty cases.

“He said to me, ‘You have to remember when you’re trying a death penalty case, every life sentence is an act of forgiveness by a jury,'” Lane said. “‘Your job is to make jurors understand the journey that your client took from an innocent little baby to the man sitting in a courtroom where his life and his death are being contemplated by citizens.’

“That lesson I learned from Irving Andrews has stayed with me through my entire life and career,” Lane continued. “And I teach that to young lawyers who, unfortunately around the country, are still facing death penalty trials.”

Attendees also heard from retired Denver County Court Judge Alfred C. Harrell, one of Andrews’ children.