Pirsig wrote in his book, Cases and Materials on Legal Ethics, 1949, "The lawyer's duty is of a double character.

Robert A. Stein, former dean of U Minnesota Law School, described Pirsig as "an unpretentious man concerned about the welfare of others".

Soon, under the guidance by Dean Everett Fraser, he attended graduate courses in law at Harvard University from 1931 to 1932, studying under Roscoe Pound and Felix Frankfurter.

[2] During 1932–1933, on a University of Minnesota Law School scholarship, as preparation for developing a course in judicial administration, Pirsig spent one year in England with his wife Harriet and son Robert, studying at the Middle Temple.

[2] A course that strove to encompass all subjects—from justice and precedence, to trial techniques and the organization of the courts—pertinent to developing well rounded lawyers.

[3] Pirsig's research and teaching led to the publication of a book in 1946, Cases and Materials on Judicial Administration, which he taught throughout his career.

[1] Charles W. Wolfram described Pirsig's teaching as aiming to produce "students... equipped with a challenging attitude, a reformer's zeal for ideal solutions, and a full arsenal of possibilities for innovations (who) would continue to confront the judicial system with challenges to ever more humane conduct that alone will guarantee its continuing legitimacy".

[4] George K. Gardner said of the book: "Here are a thousand pages on the purpose and problems of our profession which will repay thoughtful study by any student, teacher, or practitioner of the law.

Most were, or became, pillars in the world of legal scholarship, including Charles Alan Wright, Michael I. Sovern, David Louisell, Jesse Dukeminier, and librarian Leon Liddell.

[6] He managed a difficult period of post-war transition and growth at the University of Minnesota Law School, however, according to Robert A. Stein, "traditions of excellence were maintained and the foundation was laid for more productive future years".

Maynard Pirsig and Randall Tietjen co-authored the article Court Procedure and the Separation of Powers in Minnesota, published in Vol.