Obituaries

Law Prof Recalls Ted Kennedy as Average on Paper, Good on His Feet

A law professor who had taught Ted Kennedy at the University of Virginia remembers him as better at oral advocacy than written tests. Law professor Mortimer Caplin taught both Ted Kennedy and his brother Robert, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. Ted “was kind of an average paper student, but he was…

Aug 27, 2009 2:04 PM CDT

Ex-Client Charged With Killing Lawyer; Death At First Thought Natural

A former client and trusted friend of a retired Illinois criminal defense attorney has been charged with smothering the 82-year-old, along with another man, allegedly in order to steal his gun collection. Terry Bratcher, 43, allegedly murdered Carl Kuhn by pushing his head into a pillow, reports the Chicago Tribune.…

Aug 25, 2009 10:27 PM CDT

Activist Lawyer Who Defended Angela Davis Dies

A left-wing lawyer who helped win an acquittal for Angela Davis has died after suffering a stroke. Lawyer Doris Brin Walker died at the age of 90, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Walker, who was known as Dobby, became the first female president of the National Lawyers Guild in 1970.…

Aug 19, 2009 3:50 PM CDT

Pioneering Civil Rights Lawyer Dies

Pioneering civil rights lawyer Margaret Bush Wilson, the first woman to chair the NAACP’s board of directors, has died at the age of 90. Wilson graduated from Lincoln University School of Law, created as a “separate-but-equal” school for blacks in Missouri, and was the second black woman to pass the…

Aug 13, 2009 11:40 AM CDT

Coroner Investigating Death of Texas Solo, Mother of Saints QB

An Austin, Texas, solo practitioner with a famous son and a controversial business has died, and the coroner’s office is investigating the cause. Lawyer Mina Brees, a former president of the Austin Bar Association, died Friday in Grand County, the Austin American-Statesman reports. Her son is New Orleans Saints quarterback…

Aug 11, 2009 2:17 PM CDT

Stanford Law Prof Dies from Bike Accident Injuries

A professor emeritus who taught at Stanford Law School since 1969 has died from injuries he suffered in a July 14 bike accident. John Barton wrote the undergraduate textbook International Arms Control, considered the standard, the Mercury News reports. He died at the age of 72 from brain injuries suffered…

Aug 7, 2009 3:05 PM CDT

First Japanese-American Judge on Federal Bench Dies

Senior U.S. District Judge Robert Takasugi, the first Japanese-American judge appointed to the federal bench, has died at the age of 78. Takasugi was appointed to the bench in 1976 by President Gerald Ford, the Metropolitan News Enterprise reports. Edwin Prather, president of the Asian Pacific Bar of California, told…

Aug 6, 2009 6:16 PM CDT

Former Leader of Wyatt Tarrant’s Lexington Office Is Killed in Car Accident

A 71-year-old energy lawyer at Wyatt Tarrant & Combs in Lexington, Ky., died Tuesday in a Tennessee car accident. The lawyer, Richard C. Ward, had been partner in charge of Wyatt Tarrant’s Lexington office, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. He and his wife were on the way home from a vacation…

Aug 5, 2009 2:39 PM CDT

Chairman of Thompson & Knight Dies

Peter Riley, the chairman of Thompson & Knight, has died of complications from cancer at the age of 53. A message posted to the law firm’s website called Riley “a visionary and great leader who helped transform Thompson & Knight from a regional law firm to an international law firm.”…

Aug 4, 2009 4:00 PM CDT

Lightning Kills DOJ Lawyer During Evening Jog

Lightning struck and killed a vacationing Justice Department lawyer Monday as he was out for an evening jog on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Matthew Glomb, 49, of Woodbridge, Va., was killed instantly, the Washington Post reports. Glomb worked in the Justice Department’s aviation-admiralty office and was a graduate…

Jul 29, 2009 11:22 AM CDT

McCarter & English Chairman Dies of Apparent Heart Attack

Andrew Berry, the 69-year-old chairman of McCarter & English, died Friday while at his vacation home in Maine. Berry helped expand McCarter & English into a “regional powerhouse” and “played a significant, if often anonymous, role in the rebirth of Newark,” the New Jersey Star-Ledger reports. The cause was apparently…

Jul 27, 2009 5:26 PM CDT

Prominent La. Lawyer Kills Himself in Year Following Son’s Suicide

Prominent Baton Rouge, La., business lawyer Gordon Pugh, who practiced law for 44 years, killed himself on Monday. Pugh’s son, Gordon Pugh Jr., had committed suicide last year, the Daily Reveille reports. An interview with Pugh, a 71-year-old partner at Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, was published in the Baton Rouge…

Jul 22, 2009 11:29 AM CDT

Trial Lawyer Tapped by Fla. Gov. for Post Dies on Way Home

Well-known Florida trial lawyer Glenn M. Burton died Wednesday, not long after he was tapped by Florida’s governor to serve on the Tampa Sports Authority Board. He was 51. The Tampa Tribune reports that Burton was driving back from a Florida Bar convention in Orlando when his heart stopped. His…

Jun 26, 2009 11:25 AM CDT

S.C. Prosecutor Who Handled State’s Most ‘Notorious’ Cases Has Died at 40

The death of one of South Carolina’s most dogged prosecutors has left the Palmetto State in disbelief. Jennifer Evans, who headed the state attorney general’s criminal section and was the chief prosecutor for the state grand jury, died suddenly across the border in North Carolina over the weekend. She was…

Jun 23, 2009 11:03 AM CDT

Pioneering Environmental Justice Lawyer Dies in Uganda Car Crash

San Francisco environmental justice lawyer Luke Cole has died in a car crash while vacationing with his wife in Uganda. Cole was 46, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. His wife, Nancy Shelby, was injured in the accident and flown to Amsterdam for an eye operation. Cole pioneered the field of…

Jun 9, 2009 11:53 AM CDT