Obituaries

Nicholas Katzenbach, Adviser to Lyndon Johnson and JFK, Dies at 90; One of ‘Best and Brightest’

Nicholas deB. Katzenbach, a former legal adviser to Lyndon B. Johnson and John F. Kennedy who famously faced off with then-Gov. George C. Wallace in 1963 at the main building of the University of Alabama in a successful attempt to integrate the school, has died. He was 90 years old.…

May 9, 2012 10:01 PM CDT

Longest Serving Federal Appeals Judge Dies at 93

Judge James Browning of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has died at the age of 93. Browning was the nation’s longest serving federal appeals judge, the Associated Press reports. President Kennedy appointed Browning to the court in 1961; he was chief judge from 1976 to 1988.…

May 9, 2012 12:07 PM CDT

Walter Gordon Dies at 103; A Mentor to Many, He Represented Billie Holiday and Ordinary Folks

When Walter L. Gordon Jr. hung out his shingle in 1937 in Los Angeles, there were, he once estimated, only about 29 other black lawyers in the state. Then, and for many years afterward, white law firms didn’t hire black attorneys, and there was even a “whites only” clause in…

Apr 30, 2012 6:58 PM CDT

Disgrace of Watergate Conviction and Prison Term Led to ‘A Life of Significance’ for Charles Colson

A man once described as the evil genius of the administration of President Richard M. Nixon who was transformed by a Watergate prison term into an evangelical Christian and energetic social reformer died over the weekend of complications from brain surgery. But Charles W. “Chuck” Colson, at 80, was remembered,…

Apr 24, 2012 7:42 PM CDT

Longtime 9th Circuit Judge Robert Beezer Dies; Court Sees Six Deaths in About One Year

Senior Judge Robert Beezer of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has died at the age of 83. The cause of death was lung cancer, report the Los Angeles Times and Courthouse News Service. Beezer is the sixth 9th Circuit judge to die in about a year’s time, “dealing…

Apr 3, 2012 11:52 AM CDT

2 Lawyers Targeted in Nev. Homeowner Association Fraud Probe Are Found Dead Within a Week

Two Nevada lawyers who were targeted in a federal investigation of claimed widespread corruption among Las Vegas area homeowner associations have been found dead within a week of each other. The body of David Amesbury, 57, who pleaded guilty in October to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to…

Mar 27, 2012 4:05 PM CDT

NU Law Student, 32, Is Struck and Killed in Chicago Crosswalk; Driver Faces Felony DUI Case

Walking around the corner for a late-night snack from his apartment in Chicago’s trendy Old Town neighborhood, a Northwestern University law student was killed in a hit-and-run accident early Saturday. Jesse Bradley was 32 years old. A self-described Starbucks addict, he had taken the fall and spring terms off to…

Mar 26, 2012 3:29 PM CDT

NAACP Legal Defense Fund Leader John Payton Dies at 65

John Payton, the leader of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, has died at the age of 65. Payton, president and director-counsel of the LDF, was the sixth leader of the civil rights law firm, according to a memorial post on the group’s website. A different online release says…

Mar 23, 2012 2:17 PM CDT

$15.4M in Hiking Deaths of Gibson Dunn Partner and Cousin May Be Hawaii’s Biggest PI Settlement

Having already been found liable in the 2006 hiking accident deaths of a Gibson Dunn & Crutcher partner and her cousin, the state of Hawaii has agreed to pay a settlement of $15.4 million. One lawyer in the case says it’s the highest personal injury settlement in state history, reports…

Mar 20, 2012 7:39 PM CDT

US Dist. Judge William J. Hibbler Dies at Age 65

U.S. District Judge William J. Hibbler died unexpectedly today. He was 65 years old. A member of the federal bench in Chicago for nearly 13 years, Hibbler not only a respected and beloved judge known for his fairness but “an outstanding jurist, a warm and personable human being, a true…

Mar 19, 2012 10:58 PM CDT

Bankruptcy Lawyer Leapt to Death from Office Building After Minor Drug Charge

A South Florida bankruptcy lawyer committed suicide Friday morning by leaping from near the top of an 11-story Fort Lauderdale office building in which his own law office was located, authorities say. Stephen David Jerome was 61. He had been released on bond from the Broward County Jail hours before…

Mar 14, 2012 8:48 PM CDT

Thomas Puccio, Abscam Prosecutor and Defense Lawyer in von Bulow Acquittal, Is Dead at 67

A New York lawyer who first made a major name for himself prosecuting congressmen in the Abscam trials of the 1980s and then represented big-name defendants has died of leukemia. Thomas P. Puccio was 67 years old, reports the New York Times (reg. req.). Among his most famous cases was…

Mar 13, 2012 8:55 PM CDT

Around the Blawgosphere: A Stephen Colbert Hypo; Bloggers Pay Last Respects to One of Their Own

A Key Employee Chicago lawyer Jeff Nowak used Stephen Colbert’s recent absence from taping his Comedy Central program, The Colbert Report, to explain “a little-used, often forgotten rule under the Family and Medical Leave Act” at his blog, FMLA Insights. It has been widely reported that Colbert canceled those two…

Feb 24, 2012 3:01 PM CST

Law Prof Who Fought Gender and Orientation Bias Dies in Six-Story Fall; Death Ruled a Suicide

A law professor at Chapman University in California who was known for gay rights advocacy died Friday in a fall from a six-story parking structure in Irvine. Mary Katherine Baird Darmer was 47. A spokesperson for the Orange County Coroner’s office said the death was a suicide, the Orange County…

Feb 22, 2012 2:09 PM CST

Dinsmore Associate Dies at 35

Updated: Dinsmore & Shohl Associate Adam Maynard has died at age 35. Maynard died last Friday, according to the Charleston Gazette and Dinsmore’s website. The cause of death is not listed. A labor associate in Dinsmore’s Charleston, W.Va., office, Maynard was dubbed a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers and was…

Feb 17, 2012 7:20 PM CST