This article was originally published in the November/December 2021 issue of San Diego Lawyer Magazine.
By George W. Brewster Jr.
The magazine you hold in your hands (or are viewing electronically) was preceded by a ragtag sort of monthly publication called DICTA. For its roughly 50-year history (well, OK, 46), DICTA served as a “coffee house” venue for the local bar. It was popular, it was controversial, it was gossipy, and sometimes it was just plain nuts — but it was how the growing number of lawyers and judges in this town stayed connected. This is its story.
Vol. 1, no. 1 of DICTA was mailed out to bar membership in December 1951. Edited by Wallace Dorman and R. Sherman Platt, the purpose of the publication was to provide members of the Bar with “a newsletter for the informal utterances and writings by and about attorneys and friends … This shall be your newsletter to provide a medium for all attorneys, members of the bench, and friends, to meet and know each other … DICTA is a ‘hello,’ ‘who’ and ‘how are you’ effort to bring about a closer relationship among San Diego’s attorneys.”
The Bar president at the time, Leroy A. Wright II (whose law office on Fifth Avenue later became the Bar’s first formal home, where DICTA staff would meet at night to raid the Bar Board’s refrigerator for refreshments), noted in this first issue that the old intimacy of the bar had been lost over time due to growth. He hoped that, for readers, the publication would “reacquaint you with old friends and introduce newcomers who will be your friends.”
Many people aren’t aware that DICTA was a joint project between the Bar and the Barristers Club of San Diego. The president of the Barristers Club at the time was John Sorbo. In his first edition comments, he noted that though the club was relatively new to San Diego, “nearly all the attorneys in San Diego County under the age of 38” were members. The club’s purpose was to work on professional problems “of particular concern to the young attorney,” with monthly luncheons and social activities “every couple of months.” Notable speakers included Attorney General Pat Brown, Dean Roscoe Pound, and Melvin Belli.
Another new organization mentioned in the first volume was the Bar Auxiliary. In its roughly 50 years of activity, this group organized the Blackstone Ball, arranged court tours, raised money for student scholarships, and oversaw many other civic endeavors. The Auxiliary (whose members were almost exclusively women, mostly the spouses of local attorneys and judges) is now a distant memory; as are the Barristers, Blackstone Ball, Bar picnics, Bar dinner and, well, DICTA.
But before we get to its farewell, a little more history. DICTA evolved from a small 6.5-by-9-inch stapled mailer to a 7-by-11-inch magazine bound by staples and mailed. Though, maybe “evolved” isn’t the right word, considering the era of the infamous “DICTA Girl” photo page, which displayed photos of law office employees. In May 1972, Judith McConnell (later Justice McConnell of the Fourth District Court of Appeal) wrote to the editor to complain about the “cheesecake” (slang for “sexualized”) photos and sexist nature of DICTA as a whole, suggesting, tongue in cheek, that the editors add “beefcake” photos. The July 1972 issue featured a letter from new attorney Ann Parode decrying the “Playboy” quality of the magazine; in that same issue, the editor adorned the letters page with a scantily dressed woman. This issue also held the announcement of the formation of a new legal organization, Lawyers Club of San Diego, dedicated to improving the status of women in the legal profession.
The San Diego County Public Law Library has all DICTA issues (and San Diego Lawyer magazines) bound and stored in its archival shelving. These are great resources for the historically minded. You can read about the growth of the SDCBA Board from 9 to 15 directors (November 1960), digest major court rule changes (including Fast Track), and say farewell to legal legends with remembrances written by friends and colleagues. You can also find great (and small) humor laced throughout the issues, including Board Briefs, Helen Rowe’s gossip column, Pat Zaharopoulos’ “Hearsay” antidotes, and the annual Parody Issue (starting April 1989). The parodies were quite possibly the final straw spurring on an effort to “professionalize” the bar publication. The August 1997 DICTA was the final hoorah of this homegrown, sometimes flawed, but always engaging publication.
George W. Brewster Jr. (sandbrews@aol.com) is a retired attorney after 35 years of practice, including JAG, private practice, and the last 30 with the County of San Diego, Office of County Counsel.