Byron L. Warnken, who taught law at the University of Baltimore School of Law for more than four decades and was an oft-sought media legal authority, died of a neurodegenerative disease Monday at his Owings Mills home. He was 76.<\/p>\n
\u201cByron was truly an outstanding citizen,\u201d said former Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke, who is now president of the University of Baltimore. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to say if you\u2019ve ever been to law school that you love your professors, but Byron was wellloved. He was known as \u2018Mr. U.B.\u2019 and exhibited a great spirit for this university.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ronald Weich has been dean of UBalt\u2019s law school since 2012.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a sad day,\u201d Dean Weich said. \u201cByron was incredibly enthusiastic. He loved his work. He loved his students, and he loved this law school and always gave 110% to his students. He was proud of this law school\u2019s prominence and helped make the University of Baltimore what it is today, and was at the center of everything that happened here at the law school.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret Mead is a retired lawyer who studied with Professor Warnken.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one of the greatest tragedies for the legal community in Maryland that Byron has passed, but his legacy will live on in his students,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Judge David L. Moore, a semiretired administrative law judge, became acquainted with Professor Warnken when they attended law school together at the University of Baltimore.<\/p>\n
\u201cByron had the ability to reduce complicated legal concepts to the essence, so much so that even the dullest bulb in the classroom could understand it, and that\u2019s what endeared him to his students,\u201d Judge Moore said.<\/p>\n
Byron Leslie Warnken, son of V. Renee Warnken, an interior decorator and homemaker, was born in Baltimore and raised in Carney.<\/p>\n
It was a sixth grade teacher who urged Mr. Warnken to take a scholarship test for McDonogh School. Earning the scholarship afforded him the opportunity to escape from his Dickensian childhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis father was an abusive alcoholic and McDonogh, where he was a boarder, became a safe haven for him and helped launch him into the world,\u201d said his son, Byron B. Warnken of Pikesville, who is a principal in the law firm of Warnken LLC.<\/p>\n
At McDonogh, Professor Warnken was an award-winning orator, edited the school newspaper and had leading roles in plays.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/resizer\/j7s8tKfMBCQsqQNWp7xWc5woE8U=\/1440x0\/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)\/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com\/tronc\/NEWOACPD5ZGNRC4D5NG4NF46MM.jpg\")
<\/picture>1998 file photo. Professor Byron L. Warnken, foreground, academic adviser to Telerep’s Legal Advice Line Inc., with Neil J. Ruther. <\/span>(Jed Kirschbaum \/ XX)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n He earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in 1968 in English with a minor in history from the Johns Hopkins University. After his dream of being a high school English teacher was foiled by his 1-A draft status, he took a job selling cookware.<\/p>\n That year, he met the former Bonnie Lee Angevine, a registered nurse, on the job selling her cookware. Four days after their first date, he received his draft notice and was sent by the Army to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, for basic training.<\/p>\n After marrying Ms. Angevine in 1969, Professor Warnken was deployed to W\u00fcrzburg, Germany, where he was stationed at 3rd Infantry Division headquarters as a clerk-typist, and later became sports director of the American Youth Activities, which provided activities for military dependents.<\/p>\n Discharged in 1972, he attended the University of Baltimore School of Law, where he made law review. He later switched to evening law school, which enabled him to work during the day. He held a law clerk\u2019s position with a law firm that handled property matters, and later became a clerk to Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Basil A. Thomas.<\/p>\n In 1977, Professor Warnken was a cum laude law school graduate and became the school\u2019s third law school graduate to be selected for the Internal Revenue Service Chief Counsel\u2019s Honors Program in Washington.<\/p>\n He began his legal career in Washington in 1977 practicing tax law, while teaching legal analysis and research and writing at UBalt as an adjunct professor. The experience made him realize he had a gift and love of teaching. The next year, he joined the faculty full time and was tenured in 1982, teaching primarily criminal law and constitutional criminal procedure.<\/p>\n G. Adam Ruther, who was a member of the law school Class of 2008, recalled Professor Warnken as \u201cformidable and a force of nature.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHis style, which began first semester, was shock and awe, and very effective. But he was the best friend you could have as a law student. He was a generous mentor who had so much energy and knowledge, and he wanted to share it with you so you could do your job as a lawyer,\u201d said Mr. Ruther, who has been in private practice since 2015. \u201cHe was just infectious in the classroom. He made you want to explore cases and rise to his level.\u201d<\/p>\n Professor Warnken had a penchant for remembering cases that Mr. Ruther said was \u201csimply staggering.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe had a prodigious memory,\u201d Judge Moore recalled. \u201cHe could be approached by a student he had five or 11 years ago and after hearing their name would say, \u2018Oh, yes, you sat in the third seat in the fifth row.\u2019 He was just that kind of guy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf he didn\u2019t know something, which was extremely rare, he\u2019d find out and come back at you with a 10-page dissertation,\u201d Ms. Mead said, with a laugh.<\/p>\n \u201cThe thing about Byron was whether you liked the class or didn\u2019t, he was there to teach the law and it just wasn\u2019t in class,\u201d Ms. Mead said. \u201cHe was invested in each student and cared deeply. He made sure that when you left UB, you knew the law and were ethical.\u201d<\/p>\n 2003 file photo. Defense attorneys for Lovell Wheeler, left to right, Byron L. Warnken, Steven D. Silverman and Brian G. Thompson, appear with Wheeler’s wife, Elizabeth Wheeler, outside the Mitchell Courthouse after the state accepted his plea agreement. Lovell Wheeler pleaded guilty to having 80 pounds of improperly stored gunpowder in his home, a misdemeanor. <\/span>(KIM HAIRSTON \/ XX)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n Professor Warnken worked diligently at broadening the law school\u2019s student base.<\/p>\n \u201cHe worked tirelessly at bringing Black and minority students to the University of Baltimore, and the Black law associations gave him many awards,\u201d Judge Moore said.<\/p>\n When it came time for his students to launch their professional careers, Professor Warnken became their greatest advocate, and shared an eagerness to pick up the phone and recommend a student to a law firm or for a judge clerkship.<\/p>\n When he applied for a position as a young lawyer, he was rebuffed in his effort.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was told he had no special connections, so he became the special connection for those who had no special connection group,\u201d his son said. \u201cAnd when he\u2019d tell that story, his eyes would well up.\u201d<\/p>\n For 33 years at the school, he was director of the Judicial Internship Program and the Judicial EXPLOR Program that placed more than 3,000 law students with judges. He was also the faculty adviser of UBalt\u2019s Moot Court Board, which managed 19 interschool appellate advocacy teams that argue against other law schools across the county.<\/p>\n He was also the author of the three-volume \u201cMaryland\u2019s Criminal Procedure,\u201d and was co-author with Mr. Ruther of the second edition.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/resizer\/FRb3mx7U7Q5dFFqMgV8KYZdchXY=\/1440x0\/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)\/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com\/tronc\/6NIFPOAEVJHF5IFWX2U6EBCUIA.jpg\")
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