Obituaries

Gail Koff, Ex-Skadden Lawyer Who Pioneered Discount Legal Services, Dies at 65

Gail Koff, a onetime corporate lawyer who wound up serving as the public face of a pioneering consumer law firm has died of complications from leukemia treatment. She was 65 years old. After growing up in upscale Scarsdale, N.Y., she put herself through law school, as one of the few…

Sep 2, 2010 5:05 PM CDT

Gunman Suspected of Killing Lawyer Wife, Then Himself, Described as Kind, Gentle

A gunman suspected of strangling his wife, a former Barnes & Thornburg partner, before firing at the law firm and then killing himself was described as kind and gentle by family and friends. The lawyer, 44-year-old Mary Jane Frisby, had filed for divorce on Aug. 18 and resigned from her…

Aug 30, 2010 3:52 PM CDT

Wachtell Partner Dies of Brain Tumor at 49; Teen Daughter Raised $300K for Cancer Research

Mergers and acquisitions partner Craig Wasserman of Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz died Monday as a result of a malignant brain tumor. He was 49 years old. A brilliant and creative thinker who was a supportive and committed colleague, Wasserman worked on major deal after major deal until a few…

Aug 25, 2010 8:37 PM CDT

Nepal Plane Crash Kills Brooklyn Law Grad, Two Utah Law Firm Workers

A Brooklyn Law School graduate and two workers at a Utah law firm were among 14 people killed Tuesday when a plane destined for the area of Mount Everest crashed in Nepal. The law grad was Irina Shekhets, the New York Daily News reports. She took the New Jersey bar…

Aug 25, 2010 11:27 AM CDT

Reports: Ex-Sen. Ted Stevens Is Among 5 Dead in Alaska Plane Crash

After conflicting reports earlier in the day, CNN and other news media are now stating that the death of former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) in a small plane crash near Dillingham, Alaska, last night has been confirmed. Stevens was 86 years old. Earlier, longtime family friend and former aide Dave…

Aug 10, 2010 7:15 PM CDT

Prison Guard Charged in Lawyer’s Shooting-Range Death

Two Pennsylvania corrections officers have been criminally charged in connection with the death last month of a midstate lawyer at a shooting range. Raymond Franklin Peake, 64, has been charged with homicide, robbery, aggravated assault and conspiracy concerning the July 21 shooting death of attorney Todd Getgen, 42, of Enola…

Aug 2, 2010 8:31 PM CDT

Insurance Guru Eugene Anderson Dies; Known for ‘Triple Trigger,’ Hitchhiking to Harvard

As a foster child growing up in Portland, Ore., in the 1930s, on farms and in an orphanage, Eugene Anderson must have seemed an unlikely prospect for success as a New York lawyer. However, he not only put himself through the University of California, Los Angeles, but with the help…

Aug 2, 2010 7:30 PM CDT

Death of Reed Smith Practice Leader Struck by Train Ruled a Suicide

A senior partner at Reed Smith committed suicide last week, dying of multiple injuries after being struck by a commuter train in Chicago. Stewart Dolin was a corporate and securities partner who headed practice groups both at Reed Smith and, before it merged with Reed Smith, at Sachnoff and Weaver,…

Jul 20, 2010 11:40 PM CDT

King & Spalding Summer Associate Dies in Commuter Train Accident

A summer associate at King & Spalding with a seemingly bright future who was to start his third year of law school this fall died early Sunday in a Washington, D.C., commuter train accident. Joseph Doyle’s death was announced Monday in an online letter to the College of William &…

Jul 7, 2010 5:18 PM CDT

Crash Kills One Senior Veteran Prosecutor, Injures Assistant Prosecutor

A 25-year veteran of the Wicomico County, Md., prosecutor’s office was killed Friday and another attorney in the office was injured when a driver reportedly pulled out in front of them on a state road. Members of the legal community expressed shock at the sudden death of Sampson Vincent, 52.…

Jun 28, 2010 10:24 PM CDT

Justice Ginsburg’s Husband Dies, Was Tax Lawyer and Law Prof

Martin Ginsburg, the husband of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, has died of complications from cancer. Martin Ginsburg, 78, was a lawyer and tax expert, according to the New York Times, the Washington Post and USA Today. He had been a professor at Georgetown Law School and of…

Jun 28, 2010 11:21 AM CDT

Unanswered Question in Husband’s Apparent Murder of Texas Judge: Why

It was a Father’s Day much like any other for orthopedic surgery resident Dustin Loveland, who spoke with his dad a couple of times over the phone in the morning. Then, around 5 p.m., Loveland got a stunning text message from this father saying that he had apparently killed Loveland’s…

Jun 23, 2010 8:38 PM CDT

Proskauer Partner and ABA Leader Steven Krane Dies at 53

Partner Steven Krane of New York’s Proskauer Rose died yesterday of an apparent heart attack. Krane, a member of the ABA’s Board of Governors and former president of the New York State Bar Association, was 53 years old. A brilliant lawyer who was a walking encyclopedia of legal ethics and…

Jun 23, 2010 8:28 PM CDT

Body of Missing Irell & Manella Partner Is Found

People on a sports fishing boat four miles off of Long Beach in California found the body of an Irell & Manella partner on Wednesday who had gone missing after a sailboat race. The lawyer, Tom Kirschbaum, had been wearing a life vest and weather resistant clothes, according to the…

May 27, 2010 12:17 PM CDT

Coast Guard Suspends Search for Missing Irell & Manella Partner

Updated: The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its search for an Irell & Manella partner whose sailboat ran aground Sunday at Venice Beach in California. The lawyer, Tom Kirschbaum, was sailing Sunday from Santa Catalina Island after a sailboat race at a time of high winds and surf, the Los…

May 25, 2010 11:47 AM CDT