Former ABA president and WWII veteran David Brink dies at 97
Photo of David Brink provided by Dorsey & Whitney.
Former ABA President David Brink has passed away at 97.
Brink, who during his 1981-1982 tenure championed Human Rights Trial Observer programs and extending the rule of law internationally, was a retired partner at Dorsey & Whitney. Brink died on Thursday in Minneapolis.
“David was a tremendous contributor to the firm, to the legal profession and to the community,” said Dorsey & Whitney in a statement. “He was also a warm, wonderful and thoughtful colleague who loved coming to firm events in the decades after his retirement and getting to know the next generations of Dorsey lawyers and staff. We will miss him dearly.”
Brink was a trusts and estates lawyer for Dorsey and Whitney for more than 40 years. In addition to his ABA presidency, he also served as president of the Hennepin County Bar Association in the 1960s and the Minnesota State Bar Association in the 1970s.
In the ABA, Brink was known as the father of the ABA’s Goal IV to advance the rule of law throughout the world, ABA President Linda Klein said in a statement.
“He protected the independence of the judiciary, campaigning against bills that would restrict court power in cases involving controversial social issues such as mandatory busing,” Klein added. “Brink also was an advocate for pro bono delivery of legal services and successfully halted federal efforts to eliminate or diminish the Legal Services Corporation. He was an early advocate of mandatory Continuing Legal Education for lawyers, Alternative Dispute Resolution and probate trust law reform.”
Both the firm statement and Klein highlighted Brink’s work on behalf of lawyer assistance programs and lawyers dealing with substance abuse. He helped create the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs, and served on its advisory committee. He also served on the ABA Standing Committee on Substance Abuse, and contributed to an ABA report on lawyer well-being that will soon be released.
In Minnesota, he was a board member of Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, which offers “free, confidential peer and professional assistance to Minnesota lawyers, judges, law students, and their immediate family members on any issue that causes stress or distress.”
“David was a dedicated LCL volunteer including two tours on LCL’s board,” said Joan Bibelhausen, the executive director of Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, in a press release (PDF). “He supported others in their recovery and played a significant role in encouraging organizations and individuals to support LCL. While a board member, including while in his 90s, he attentively and conscientiously carried out the fiduciary responsibilities of that office and humbly served as a mentor to others.”
Brink was the son of Carol Ryrie Brink, author of the classic children’s book Caddie Woodlawn, and Raymond Brink, a mathematics professor at the University of Minneapolis. The influence of both his parents’ professions is clear from Brink’s life outside his career as a lawyer. During WWII, Brink worked as a code breaker for the U.S. Navy, and he was a longtime poet and writing teacher. In 2016 he published a collection of his poetry, Beyond the Delta.
Brink was preceded in death by his wife, Irma Lorentz Brink. He is survived by four children and eight grandchildren.
