Yale Law School rejected Walter Dellinger III when he first applied in 1963. Luckily for Dellinger, a senior at the University of North Carolina at the time, a state government official for whom he'd interned arranged an in-person interview for him to make his case. Dellinger had no money, so he hitchhiked to New Haven. Several detours and one terrifying drunk driver later, Dellinger arrived for his interview 15 minutes late. The admissions officer wasn't pleased. But after recounting every detail of his wild trek, Dellinger was able to win him over and secure his spot.
In the years that followed, Dellinger's knack for creatively pleading his case didn't go unnoticed. As a law professor at Duke University during the 1970s and 1980s, Democratic Party leaders repeatedly asked him to testify before Congress in favor of liberal causes. "They really needed a Southerner on their side," he says.
