Lawyer Who Chaired White & Case For Decades Dies at 82

James Hurlock, who chaired the New York law firm White & Case from 1980 to 2000 and was instrumental in its expansion, died on Wednesday, the firm’s current chair Hugh Verrier told partners in an email. Hurlock was 82.

“This is a very sad day for all of us and for the Firm he did so much for,"said Verrier, who did not disclose the cause of death in the email he sent to partners on Wednesday. Requests for comment were not immediately returned.

Hurlock, who was most recently of counsel at White & Case, was known for his sovereign representation practice, advising governments including Morocco, Indonesia, Turkey, Poland, Croatia and Costa Rica. He advised the governments on a range of legal matters, according to his online biography, including debt reschedulings, debt buy-backs, project financing, construction contracts, arbitration and tax matters.

[Image “Jim Hurlock” (src=https://bol.bna.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Jim-Hurlock.png)]

For the two decades he ran the firm, he doubled down on expansion and tripled its staff of lawyers, opening “in markets as diverse as Helsinki and Hanoi,” as portrayed in a 2009 New York Times story .

His White & Case profile notes one his career highlights:

In 1994, Mr. Hurlock concluded successful negotiations on behalf of Bulgaria and Poland with their Paris Club and London Club creditors. Bulgaria successfully completed a comprehensive “Brady Plan” restructuring of its commercial bank debt, which resulted in a 50% reduction of the country’s commercial debt repayment obligations. Poland’s “Brady Plan” restructuring reduced that nation’s overall commercial bank debt obligations by approximately 45% and included several innovative features. These innovations limited the amount of past due interest payable by Poland and lessened the cost of collateralizing the long-term conversion bonds issued by Poland in connection with the rescheduling.

Brad Hildebrandt, a law firm business consultant who advised Hurlock in the 1990s, credited Hurlock as a “strong leader.”

“White & Case was really one of the early global law firms,” said Hildebrandt. “Jim had a vision for that. He was very well known. Very well respected.”

Verrier’s email said that the firm would send obituary and information about the memorial services later.