Paul Rawlinson, Patricia Wald Among Lawyers Who Died in 2019

The legal world lost a number of leaders in 2019. The list below includes some from academia, public service, and private practice.

• Patricia Wald. Wald was the first woman to be appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in 1979. She served as chief judge from 1986–91, and retired from the court in 1999. She continued to work, including a stint as U.S. representative to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia from 1999–02. Earlier in her career, she worked at Arnold & Porter, known then as Arnold, Fortas & Porter, and the Justice Department. She died in January at 90 of cancer.
• Paul Rawlinson. Former Baker McKenzie chair Rawlinson died in April several months after taking a temporary leave of absence due to exhaustion. London-based Rawlinson was an intellectual property lawyer and led the firm’s global IP practice from 2004–10. He counted Cisco, L’Oréal, British American Tobacco, and Eli Lilly among his clients. He was appointed global chair in 2016.
• Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte. The former ABA president who was known as an advocate for human and civil rights around the world died in May at 85. D’Alemberte led the lawyers’ group from 1991–92. He was also a law professor at Florida State University, where he served as dean of the law school and later as university president.
• Christopher Kulish. Kulish, 62, a former partner at Holland & Hart, died in May of an apparent heart attack after summiting Mt. Everest. Kulish joined Holland & Hart in 2002 as a patent partner in its Boulder office. He remained at the firm until the spring of 2009 when he launched his own solo practice in Denver.
• Juan Picon. Picon was the managing partner of Latham & Watkins’ Madrid office and co-leader of the firm’s Latin America practice when he died in June of cancer. Picon was one of Spain’s leading rainmakers and led Latham deal teams this year representing Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica in the sales of its Central American operations. Picon was also a former global co-chair of DLA Piper.
• John Paul Stevens. The retired U.S. Supreme Court justice died in July at age 99 from complications of a stroke. Although appointed by Republican President Gerald Ford in 1975, he was regarded as a progressive jurist by the time he retired in 2010 at age 90. He was the second-oldest justice in U.S. history and his tenure on the bench was third-longest. Stevens was known for his dissents in high-profile cases including when the justices in 2010 struck down decades-old restrictions on campaign spending by corporations and the court’s 5–4 decision stopping the Florida ballot recounts that might have led to Democratic candidate Al Gore’s election over Republican George W. Bush in 2000.
• Robert Morgenthau. The longest-serving Manhattan district attorney was 99 when he died in July. Morgenthau was supposedly the inspiration for the Law & Order character D.A. Adam Schiff, portrayed by actor Steven Hill. Morgenthau stepped away from prosecution in 2009 but didn’t retire, instead opting to work at Big Law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz until his death.
• A. William Urquhart. Urquhart, who went by the name Bill, was a name partner at litigation powerhouse Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan when he died in October. His death at 72 was attributed to complications stemming from a bone marrow transplant. Urquhart joined the firm in 1988 and during his time there, it grew from 15 lawyers to some 800 lawyers in 23 offices. He was known for his negotiating skills but also his sense of fun, often choosing to forego business attire for a track suit.
• Kevin Morris. Morris, a Kirkland & Ellis private equity partner in the firm’s Chicago office, died in November at 46 of cancer. Morris was one of a small number of African American dealmakers in Big Law. During his almost two-decade career at Kirkland, Morris distinguished himself representing large private equity firms like Bain Capital partners, Monomoy Capital Partners, and Oaktree Capital Management.
• David L. Shapiro. A Harvard Law professor, Shapiro died in November at 87. He was known for his intellectual prowess but also his oral advocacy skills. He took a break from teaching in 1988 to work in the Justice Department as deputy solicitor general. Before joining Harvard, Shapiro worked at Covington & Burling and clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice John M. Harlan from 1962–63. Shapiro co-edited the editions of the casebook on federal jurisdiction, “The Federal Courts and the Federal System,” for almost 50 years.
• Marshall Small. Former Morrison & Foerster Chair Small died in December at 92. Small joined the firm in 1954 after clerking for U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas and a brief teaching stint at Stanford Law School, his alma mater. Small was the first Jewish lawyer to join the firm, where he was a partner from 1961 through 1992. He chaired the firm from 1982–84. Small was dedicated to pro bono work, including a case where he was appointed by the U.S. Supreme Court to protect the rights of a San Quentin prisoner.

- With assistance from Elizabeth Olson, Sam Skolnik, Greg Stohr, Roy Strom, and Meghan Tribe