Obituaries

Coast Guard Lawyer, Women’s Bar Pioneer Dies at Age 98

A Chicago woman who wanted to join the military effort during World War II, but couldn’t because of her gender and became a lawyer for the Coast Guard instead, has died at the age of 98. Etha “Bea” Fox was denied military service because women were barred from combat at…

Sep 26, 2012 11:15 AM CDT

Human Rights Lawyer Gunned Down at Wedding in Honduras

Antonio Trejo Cabrera, a human rights lawyer who represented agrarian groups against large landowners in Honduras, was killed Sunday while attending a wedding in the nation’s capital city Tegucigalpa. Cabrera, who was 41, was shot five times, the Associated Press reports. The lawyer had just participated in a televised debate…

Sep 24, 2012 12:07 PM CDT

Jennifer Jaff, Advocate for Those with Chronic Illness, Dies of Crohn’s Complications

A Connecticut lawyer whose illness inspired her to become an advocate for others with chronic illnesses has died. Jennifer Jaff, of Farmington, was 55. Jaff died Sept. 14 of complications of Crohn’s disease, an incurable gastrointestinal disorder she was diagnosed with at age 19, according to a news obituary in…

Sep 24, 2012 10:22 AM CDT

Ex-Cop, Now a Law Student, Says Albuquerque Civil Rights Lawyer Mary Han May Have Been Murdered

Was a civil rights attorney, found dead in her Albuquerque, N.M., home in 2010, a murder victim? Her family thinks so, and has filed a civil lawsuit against the city’s police department, contending that it botched the investigation of Han’s November 2010 death, which was ruled a suicide. And a…

Sep 19, 2012 3:58 PM CDT

US Ambassador to Libya, a Former Lawyer, Is Killed in Attack by Protesters

U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens has died in an attack by protesters reportedly angry over an anti-Muslim film. Stevens was killed along with three other Americans, report the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.), CNN, AFP and the Washington Post. CNN identified the three as security staffers. President Obama…

Sep 12, 2012 10:46 AM CDT

Harvard Law Prof Who Co-Wrote ‘Getting to Yes’ Dies at 90

Roger Fisher, a Harvard law professor known for conflict resolution, has died from complications of dementia at the age of 90. Fisher co-wrote Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In, the New York Times reports. “Over his career,” the Times says, “Professor Fisher eagerly brought his optimistic can-do brand…

Aug 28, 2012 1:26 PM CDT

Lawyer Who Flew Charitable Flights for Ill Children Dies in Cessna Crash

A southern California lawyer who flew planes to transport indigent patients died Friday evening when his Cessna 210 crashed in a residential Los Angeles neighborhood. M. Sean McMillan, who is listed online as a shareholder at Greenberg Traurig, flew charitable flights for 20 years through an organization called Angel Flight,…

Aug 13, 2012 1:01 PM CDT

Lawyer Took Cyanide After Arson Verdict, Then Collapsed and Died, Medical Examiner Says

A 53-year-old lawyer whose finances apparently took a nosedive in recent years committed suicide in an Arizona court last month by swallowing a cyanide pill, immediately after a Maricopa County jury convicted him of burning down his own upscale home in the Phoenix area. Michael James Marin collapsed within minutes…

Jul 27, 2012 8:21 PM CDT

Search for Missing Lawyer Ends with Discovery of Body

A five-day search for a missing Wyoming lawyer ended on Saturday when he was found dead in his SUV near a dry lake. Cody lawyer Charles George Kepler, a former president of the Wyoming Bar Association, was found just six days before his 90th birthday, the Billings Gazette reports. The…

Jul 10, 2012 2:22 PM CDT

Judge Issues Stop-Work Order After Bodies of Lawyer, Wife Discovered in Derailed Train Wreckage

A Cook County judge has ordered a halt to cleanup of a derailed train after crews discovered the derailment and subsequent bridge collapse Wednesday claimed the lives of at least two victims. The bodies of a Chicago-area lawyer and his wife were found Thursday beneath the wreckage of the 138-car…

Jul 6, 2012 5:00 PM CDT

Longtime Leader Who Saw Small Firm Become One of NJ’s Biggest Over 80-Year Career Dies at 104

A longtime lawyer who helped build a small New Jersey law firm into one of the state’s biggest over his 80-year career there while maintaining a reputation as a consummate gentleman has died at age 104. Blaine Capehart had to drop out of Harvard Law School during the Great Depression…

Jun 27, 2012 5:33 PM CDT

Federal Judge Robert Kelleher Dies at 99

Updated: Senior U.S. District Judge Robert Kelleher of Los Angeles has died at the age of 99. Kelleher was the nation’s oldest federal judge on the bench at the time of his death, report City News Service, the Metropolitan News-Enterprise and the Associated Press report. He didn’t hold the record,…

Jun 22, 2012 1:06 PM CDT

Civil Rights Lawyer Reflects on Former Client Rodney King, Who Died Sunday at 47

Oakland, Calif., civil rights lawyer John Burris represented Rodney King when he won a $3.8 million judgment against the Los Angeles police department, a victory for the man whose taped beating in 1991 led to riots the next year. Burris remembered his client in an interview with San Jose Mercury…

Jun 18, 2012 11:35 AM CDT

Philip Corboy, a ‘Jack Nicklaus of Trial Lawyers,’ Dies at 87

Philip Corboy, one of Chicago’s best-known and longest practicing trial lawyers, died at his home in the city early Tuesday. He was 87 years old. A personal injury lawyer known for his big-verdict cases, bar leadership and generous mentoring of others, he had practiced for more than 50 years at…

Jun 12, 2012 5:01 PM CDT

Federal Judge Who Once Helped Thurgood Marshall in School Desegregation Fight Dies at 89

Senior U.S. District Judge Louis Pollak died of heart failure on Tuesday following a long illness. He was 89. Pollak was formerly dean of both Yale and Pennsylvania law schools and was an early pioneer in civil rights cases, report the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News. He was…

May 10, 2012 12:28 PM CDT