[4] Christie was admitted to the bar in New York in 1957 and in the District of Columbia in 1958.
He spent two years in private practice in Washington D.C. and from 1960-1961 he was a Ford Fellow at Harvard Law School.
Following his time at Cambridge he became a member of the faculty at University of Minnesota Law School.
In 1966 he left the University of Minnesota and returned to Washington D.C. where he served as the Assistant General Counsel for the Near East and South Asia of the Agency for International Development.
The rule aims to guarantee that the voice of the faculty be heard prior to the Board of Trustees reaching significant decisions.