Very sad news about the death of my friend and colleague, David Leonard, who was responsible more than anyone else for my being here at Loyola:

Professor David P. Leonard, Associate Dean for Research and longtime member of the faculty at Loyola Law School, passed away last night due to complications related to cancer. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 14, at Hillside Memorial Park, 6001 W. Centinela Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90045.
Leonard joined the Loyola faculty in 1990 and was appointed Associate Dean for Research in 2008. He was an immensely popular professor with students, faculty and staff alike. The graduating class of 2009 presented him with the Excellence in Teaching Award. Leonard served as a model of compassion and professionalism. His efforts as Associate Dean for Research helped raise Loyola’s scholarly profile. And he did all this with a constant smile as he battled cancer.
“David was not only a colleague but also a dear friend,” said Dean Victor Gold, who co-authored Evidence: A Structured Approach with Leonard. “He was kind, funny, compassionate and courageous. He loved teaching and was dedicated to his students. We have suffered a great loss.”
At Loyola, Leonard taught the Advanced Evidence Seminar, Evidence and Torts. In addition, he was a prolific scholar. His books include The New Wigmore: A Treatise on Evidence: Evidence of Other Misconduct and Similar Events and Evidence Law: A Student’s Guide to the Law of Evidence as Applied in American Trials. His many law review articles appeared in the U.C. Davis Law Review, the North Carolina Law Review, the Southern California Law Review, the University of Colorado Law Review, the Hastings Law Journal and the Indiana Law Journal, among others.
Before joining the Loyola faculty, Leonard was a member of the faculty at the Indiana University School of Law and a lecturer-in-law at UCLA School of Law, where he received his J.D. Leonard received his bachelor’s degree with highest honors from the University of California, San Diego.
Leonard, who was 57, is survived by his wife, Susan, and sons, Adam and Matthew.
As news of Leonard’s passing traveled around campus, impromptu eulogies sprung up on Internet status messages like that of alumnus Greg Strausberg ’09, a Tax LL.M. student who studied evidence under Leonard in 2007. “He took it personally upon himself to take care of not only his current students, but all of his past students, staff, faculty and administration at Loyola. He will be, and already is, sorely missed by all of generations of his students,” said Strausberg.