For two Kansas University law professors, Supreme Court Justice Byron White’s Midwestern work ethic meant high expectations and long days at the office.

Stephen McAllister and Chris Drahozal served as clerks for White, who died Monday in Denver at age 84.

“He expected a lot of his clerks, on one hand, and on the other he’d been there long enough he had a pretty good idea what he thought about cases before we talked to him,” Drahozal said. “You knew what he expected of you.”

Drahozal was one of four clerks for White from 1988 to 1989. McAllister, who also is dean of the School of Law, clerked for White from 1989 to 1991.

McAllister said White’s longevity on the court  27 years when McAllister started working for him and 31 years overall  made him a good justice with whom to work.

“He was nominated and confirmed to the Supreme Court before I was born,” McAllister said. “That’s how much experience and knowledge he had. … It was a little bit like clerking for your grandfather.”

McAllister remembered White for his stern, quiet demeanor.

“He tended to be a more formal guy,” McAllister said. “He didn’t like to say things twice.”

But both McAllister and Drahozal said their favorite experiences with White were away from the Supreme Court. They said clerks were like extended family to White and his wife, who often invited them to their house.

McAllister recalled taking a 15-passenger van full of law clerks and other court officials to a professional basketball game. White insisted McAllister, a Kansas native, drive the van.

“He didn’t trust these Ivy League boys to drive a vehicle like that,” he said. “He wanted the Kansas kid.”

Drahozal recalled traveling with White to a Philadelphia Phillies-Los Angeles Dodgers game in Philadelphia. The group had drinks with Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda following the game.

But Drahozal said White didn’t open up much, even with the charismatic Lasorda.

“He wasn’t that different,” Drahozal said. “He was Justice White. He was relatively terse. He was brief and to the point.”

McAllister said White didn’t have an agenda during his time on the court.

“He doesn’t have a real enduring legacy in terms of influencing the direction of the court. He didn’t have the strong ideological views of a (Clarence) Thomas or a (William) Brennan. He didn’t have the charisma of a (Antonin) Scalia. He was a judge’s judge. He was very much case-by-case.”