Obituaries

But for Timely Calls, Police Might Never Have Found Body of Murdered Mercer Law Grad Lauren Giddings

Terrible though it has been for family and friends of a murdered Mercer University law graduate to know that she is dead, it could have been worse, the Macon police chief and her sister say. But for timely calls to police and an all-hands-on-deck response by authorities, Lauren Giddings’ body…

Jul 28, 2011 5:20 PM CDT

Murdered Topeka Lawyer May Have Interrupted Burglary as She Came Home from Celebrating Her Birthday

A 40-year-old Kansas attorney was shot and killed and her female companion was injured when a gunman approached their vehicle as they pulled into their driveway in Topeka a little after midnight on Thursday after celebrating the lawyer’s birthday. Natalie Gibson was the city’s seventh homicide victim so far this…

Jul 22, 2011 9:50 AM CDT

Suspended Lawyer Found Dead After Failing to Appear for Sentencing in Mail-Fraud Case

Updated: Scheduled to be in federal court in East St. Louis for sentencing today at 9 a.m. in a mail fraud case, an Illinois attorney sent his lawyer a fax at 8 a.m. saying he wouldn’t be there. The judge issued a warrant for the arrest of Dennis Nalick, 63,…

Jul 21, 2011 7:02 PM CDT

Dismembered Body Was Law Grad’s; Investigation Continues

A dismembered body found near the apartment of a missing Mercer University law graduate has been identified as that of the young woman, 27-year-old Lauren Giddings, who served as president of the Federalist Society at the school. The police investigation in Macon, Ga., is continuing, the Associated Press reports. Meanwhile,…

Jul 6, 2011 9:36 PM CDT

Russian Lawyer Was Beaten by 8 Jail Guards Before He Died, Report Says

A jailed Russian lawyer who had accused government officials of corruption was chained to a cot and beaten by eight guards immediately before he died in 2009, according to a report to the country’s president by an advisory human rights council. When an ambulance crew that had been called in…

Jul 5, 2011 10:29 PM CDT

Attorney Charged in Child Porn Case Died in Mexico After News Reports of Alleged Crime

Updated: A former BigLaw associate who was criminally charged in a child pornography case described by a prosecutor as involving “truly sickening” images was found dead in Mexico City within a few days after the case was publicized. Moshe Gerstein, 35, died June 16, Reuters reported. The cause isn’t immediately…

Jun 23, 2011 8:18 PM CDT

Lawyer and Civil Rights Activist Is Shot and Killed in His Home

Updated: Lawyer and civil rights activist C. Frederick Robinson was shot and killed in his home in Flint, Mich., last Friday. Police originally said they did not have a suspect in the death of Robinson, 79, the Flint Journal reports. Later police said they were seeking a “person of interest”—a…

Jun 20, 2011 11:26 AM CDT

Former NYU Law Dean Norman Redlich Dies

Former New York University law dean Norman Redlich has died from complications of Parkinson’s disease. He was 85. The New York Times obituary describes Redlich as “a quiet luminary of the New York legal community who pioneered the pro bono defense of indigent death row inmates.” Redlich was a law…

Jun 13, 2011 11:00 AM CDT

Lawyer, Ex-Client and 3 Supportive Friends Were Slain by Her Ex-Husband, Police Say

A shooting spree last week in and around Yuma, Ariz., focused on an angry ex-husband’s former wife, lawyer and friends who supported her, according to police investigators and court records. In addition to Jerrold Shelley, 62, who was slain at his law office on Thursday morning, the other four victims…

Jun 6, 2011 6:22 PM CDT

Assisted Suicide Advocate Jack Kevorkian Dies from Blood Clot

Right-to-die advocate Jack Kevorkian has died from a blood clot at the age of 83. His lawyer, Mayer Morganroth, says Kevorkian died when a blood clot broke from his leg and became lodged in his heart, the Detroit Free Press reports. “Death came naturally” to Kevorkian, the Free Press says.…

Jun 3, 2011 1:27 PM CDT

Slain Divorce Lawyer Represented Ex-Wife of Dead Gunman, Had Expected to Retire from Practice Today

A 62-year-old divorce lawyer reportedly shot to death in his Yuma, Ariz., law office this morning represented the ex-wife of the man authorities say was responsible for five fatal shootings in and around the city today. Jerrold Shelley was in the process of packing up his law office, expecting to…

Jun 3, 2011 12:17 AM CDT

Divorce Attorney Shot at Law Office Among 5 People Reportedly Killed in Yuma, Ariz.

An Arizona attorney whose general practice included criminal and family law matters was among five people shot and killed today in Yuma, Ariz. A sixth individual was wounded. Jerrold Shelley, 62, was slain at his downtown law office, reports the On Deadline blog of USA Today. The New York Times…

Jun 2, 2011 9:03 PM CDT

Most of Joseph Flom’s Millions Will Go to Charity

Joseph Flom’s multimillion-dollar estate will go mostly to charitable causes. Joseph Flom, a name partner at Skadden Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, died in February at the age of 87. He was the firm’s first associate in 1948, and he went on to lead the law firm. Flom’s will gives…

Apr 19, 2011 2:08 PM CDT

Activist Lawyer Leonard Weinglass Dies at 77

Lawyer Leonard Weinglass has died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 77. Weinglass was “perhaps the nation’s pre-eminent progressive defense lawyer,” the New York Times reports, representing “political renegades, government opponents and notorious criminal defendants in a half century of controversial cases.” Weinglass joined another crusading lawyer, William Kunstler,…

Mar 25, 2011 11:32 AM CDT

Protective Order Didn’t Help Oklahoma Lawyer Killed in Murder-Suicide

A lawyer was shot and killed in an Oklahoma City parking lot on Tuesday by her ex-husband, who then killed himself. The Oklahoma City lawyer, 58-year-old Freda Cross, had obtained a protective order against her former spouse, Michael McCreary, NewsOK.com reports. The shooting occurred only hours after McCreary was released…

Mar 24, 2011 12:03 PM CDT