Soia Mentschikoff
| Soia Mentschikoff | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
April 2, 1915 Moscow, Russia |
| Died | June 18, 1984 (aged 69) Coral Gables, Florida, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater |
Hunter College Columbia University |
Soia Mentschikoff (April 2, 1915 - June 18, 1984) was an American lawyer, law professor, legal scholar and law school dean, best known for her work in the development and drafting of the Uniform Commercial Code. She served as dean of University of Miami School of Law. She was also the first woman to teach at Harvard Law School.
Mentschikoff was born in the Russian Empire to American parents. Her parents returned to the United States prior to the Russian Revolution. At age 15, she began her undergraduate education at Hunter College in New York City, where she majored in English and political science. After graduating from Hunter College, she enrolled at Columbia Law School, where she completed her J.D. in 1937.
After graduating law school, Mentschikoff worked at several Wall Street law firms, specializing in both commercial law and labor law, particularly in arbitration and mediation. She was one of the first women to become a partner at a large New York firm, having made partner at both Spence, Windels, Walser, Hotchkiss & Angell in 1944 and later at Spencer, Hotchkiss, Parker & Duryee from 1945-1949.
While Mentschikoff was still a student at Columbia, she met with Karl Llewellyn, who was a professor there at the time. In 1942, when Llewellyn was appointed by the American Law Institute to be the chief reporter in drafting the Uniform Commercial Code, Mentschikoff was named to be his assistant. She worked as Llewellyn's research assistant until 1949, when she was named associate chief reporter. In 1954, she became a consultant to the permanent editorial board for the UCC.
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