Justice Paul R. Haerle
Justice Paul R. Haerle died peacefully on March 6, 2018. He was 86 and lived in Tiburon. The cause of death was congestive heart failure, according to his wife, Michele Monson. Justice Haerle, who was appointed to the bench by governor Pete Wilson, served on the first district State of California Court of Appeal for 20 years until he stepped down in 2014.
He was devoted to his career in the law, beginning as an associate with San Francisco’s Thelen, Marrin, Johnson and Bridges upon graduation from University of Michigan’s law school in 1956. He was the firm’s first managing partner of practice, chair of the litigation department, chair of the partnership committee, and an active member of the management committee.
Although Justice Haerle’s civil legal practice involved antitrust and business litigation, his judicial career brought him into the center of criminal legal issues, beginning with the conflict over gun manufacturer’s liability in the wake of the 1993 massacre at 101 California Street, in which eight people died. When appointed to the court he said he looked forward to the study and review of a less familiar area of the law, a pace more akin to his days as editor-in-chief of Michigan Law Review in the early 1950s.
His lifelong interest in history bloomed during World War II when as a youngster he papered his Portland, Oregon bedroom with world maps to chart the conflict. His interest in history fueled his love of travel: He planned journeys painstakingly with itineraries throughout Europe, Asia and Africa. On return flights to San Francisco, he would begin planning the next trip he and his wife Michele would take. He appreciated good food and wine and researched, chose and booked tables well in advance in restaurants at home and abroad, always seeking opportunities to dine outdoors. His spiritual home was London, where he unfailingly made a pilgrimage to Buckingham Palace to witness the changing of the guard, always with a sense of awe and respect for the tradition.
Long active in the Republican party, Justice Haerle took a two-year leave from his law firm in 1967 to serve as then Governor Ronald Reagan’s judicial appointments secretary. He was Northern California chairman of the Committee to Re-elect Governor Ronald Reagan in 1970, and assistant floor manager for the President Ford Committee at the 1976 Republican National Convention. From 1975-1977 he was state chairman of the California Republican party. He served on the state’s judicial selection commission under two governors.
Courtly and gentlemanly, Justice Haerle was admired for his professional collegiality, even by fellow lawyers and judges who had different political and legal outlooks. When appointed to the court, several court watchers noted that while a Republican, Justice Haerle was “no ideologue, and had no agenda.” He remained outspoken about his frustration with judicial overreach, insisting courts should interpret and apply the law, not write it.
He was a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a member of the International Society of Barristers. When graduating from Michigan Law, he received the Oreon E. Scott Award for Distinguished Legal Scholarship and was a member of Order of the Coif and legal honor society Phi Delta Phi.
In 1994, he was named to the board of trustees of the World Affairs Council of Northern California, frequently moderating panel discussions among dignitaries and introducing speakers to the membership. He held memberships in the Yale Clubs of San Francisco and New York and the Tiburon Peninsula Club. He was a devoted tennis player and played singles into his early 80s. A dedicated hiker, he developed affection for Yosemite when his children were young. He volunteered as a dog companion for the Marin Humane Society after retirement. He read widely – mostly history, biography and non-fiction but was first in line at his local bookstore when a new Alan Furst novel was published.
Paul Haerle admired his father, and proudly recounted that the senior Haerle, who did not graduate from high school, first took a job in the mailroom of a Pacific Northwest lumber insurance company and later became its president as the firm became substantial. Paul attended Principia, a St. Louis Christian Science boarding school, from which he graduated in 1949. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science and history from Yale University in 1953, where he was a member of Yale Key, and a J.D. from University of Michigan in 1956.
Paul Raymond Haerle was born January 10, 1932 in Portland, Oregon to George and Grace Haerle. He is survived by his wife of 26 years, Michele Monson of Tiburon, two adult children from a previous marriage, Karen D’Or of Santa Rosa and David Haerle of Aberdeen, Washington, five grandchildren, a great grandchild, and several nieces and nephews. His two brothers pre-deceased him.
Memorial services are pending. Memorial gifts may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, University of Michigan Law School scholarship fund or the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.