Obituaries

Al Meyerhoff: Labor Lawyer Who Fought Sweatshops Dies at 61

Al Meyerhoff, a labor lawyer who lead a landmark class-action lawsuit against American clothiers operating sweatshops on the island of Saipan has died of complications from cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 61. Meyerhoff’s suit against retailers, including The Gap, resulted in a $20 million settlement…

Dec 23, 2008 10:55 PM CST

Death Penalty Expert Michael Mello Dies

Vermont Law School Professor Michael Mello, a well-known national expert on the death penalty, died at his home over the weekend after a short illness. He was 51. “He was my colleague for 20 years,” Professor Joan Vogel told the Rutland Herald. “It hasn’t really sunk in to me that…

Nov 25, 2008 5:07 PM CST

RIP: Gerald Margolis, Counsel to Rolling Stones, Robin Williams

Entertainment lawyer and avid surfer Gerald A. Margolis, whose high-profile clients included the Rolling Stones, R. Kelly and Robin Williams, died Sept. 15 at age 65. Margolis was diagnosed six years ago with progressive muscular atrophy and died of complications relating to pneumonia, the Los Angeles Times reports. Margolis was…

Sep 26, 2008 11:12 AM CDT

Oldest Patent Lawyer Dies at the Age of 107

A retiree dubbed “the oldest patent attorney in the United States” by National Public Radio has died at the age of 107. Yardley Chittick, a graduate of George Washington University Law School, practiced law until he was 85, the Boston Globe reports. He had estimated that he worked with about…

Jul 23, 2008 2:24 PM CDT

RIP: Janet Mary Riley, Crusading Women’s Rights Lawyer

A longtime Loyola University New Orleans School of Law professor who is credited with making Louisiana women equal partners in their marriages died Saturday. Janet Mary Riley was 92. A Loyola law librarian-turned-law student, Riley was Loyola Law’s first female professor, and she took the job in part because she…

Jul 8, 2008 6:10 PM CDT

45 Years After Medgar Evers’ Murder, His Work Continues

Every year, on June 12, Robert Stepney thinks about Medgar Evers, a college roommate who was like a brother to him. Shot on that day in Jackson, Miss., in 1963, as he got out of his car in front of his home a little after midnight, Evers died in front…

Jun 12, 2008 6:46 PM CDT

Last Brown v. Board of Ed Plaintiff, Zelma Henderson, Dies

Zelma Henderson, the sole surviving plaintiff in the landmark desegregation case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, died of pancreatic cancer Tuesday. She was 88. In a news obituary featuring Henderson, the New York Times notes that the lifelong Topeka, Kan., resident was one of the “et al.” named…

May 22, 2008 3:08 PM CDT

RIP: Recanter Who ‘Opened the Floodgates’ to DNA Exonerations

A woman who falsely accused an Illinois man of rape and later recanted after the man spent eight years in jail died of breast cancer May 15 in New Hampshire. She was 46. Cathleen Crowell Webb’s decision to recant led to the DNA exoneration of Gary Dotson and opened the…

May 21, 2008 8:09 PM CDT

Nuclear Proliferation Foe Joseph Egan Dies

Nuclear engineer-turned-lawyer Joseph R. Egan, the man who led Nevada’s legal campaign to block a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain, died of gastroesophageal cancer May 7. He was 53. An obituary posted on his firm’s website notes that before his death, Egan arranged for his ashes to be spread…

May 16, 2008 12:58 PM CDT

Lawyer Who Fought Nuclear Waste Had Unusual Last Request

A lawyer who died at the age of 53 after a campaign to ban a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain had an unusual request in the obituary he wrote for himself. Joseph Egan wrote in the obit, posted on his firm’s website, that he had arranged for his ashes…

May 13, 2008 3:58 PM CDT

Robert Vesco, Famed Fugitive, May Have Died in Cuba

A famous fugitive for decades after the publicity surrounding the Watergate scandal helped make him a household name, Robert Vesco reportedly may be dead at age 71 or 72. But although major news organizations have published his obituary, officials aren’t positive that the notorious con man and claimed associate of…

May 6, 2008 9:22 PM CDT

Eugene Pincham: ‘Giant’ of Chicago Legal Community Dies

Chicago-area legal legend R. Eugene Pincham, who served as a state appellate judge but proved too confrontational for political office, died Thursday after a long illness. He was 82. Chief Cook County Judge Timothy Evans confirmed the news for the Chicago Tribune, saying, “He was one of the best and…

Apr 3, 2008 8:23 PM CDT

Obit Blames Lawyer’s Death on Stress of Law Firm Job

An obituary apparently written by a lawyer’s widow blames his stressful law firm job for his heart attack. “Robert Bruce Evanick (always known as Bruce to those who loved him—and those who employed him and exploited his work ethic)—died Tuesday afternoon, Dec. 4, 2007. A massive heart attack killed him,”…

Dec 13, 2007 2:20 PM CST

Paul Boland: Judge, Mentor, Law Prof

Paul Boland, a California appellate judge also known as a mentor to many and a pioneer of law school clinical education, has died. He was 65. An associate justice of the state Court of Appeal since 2001, Boland encouraged the judicial system to put its best foot forward and was…

Sep 7, 2007 4:45 PM CDT