Oregon State Bar Bulletin FEBRUARY/MARCH 2002
| In Memoriam |
Retired Portland attorney William C. Martin died Nov. 15, 2001 at the age of 78. He was born May 25, 1923 in Shenandoah, Iowa and received his B.A. and law degrees from the University of Iowa.
During World War II Martin served as a B-17 bomber pilot stationed in England. He joined the Portland firm then known as Dusenbery, Teiser, Martin & Schwab, now known as Martin, Bischoff, Templeton, Langlet & Hoffman.
In November 1965 Martin traveled to Jackson, Miss., and spent a month representing African Americans as a volunteer with the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. He was the second Oregonian lawyer to volunteer for this work, following the footsteps of Cliff Carlsen. In 1998 he was one of the 24 Oregon attorneys (the 'Oregon Chapter of the Honorary Mississippi Bar Alumni Association') awarded the ACLU's prestigious McNaughton Award for their civil rights work in Mississippi.
During his career Martin was chosen Boss of the Year by the Portland Legal Secretaries Association. He was active in many community and civic activities around Portland and Lake Oswego. Martin is fondly remembered by the firm that still bears his name as 'an energetic and at times irascible advocate for his clients.'
In 1986 Martin and his wife Kathryn retired to Kona, Hawaii, where they lived until last year when they returned to the mainland for health reasons. He is survived by a daughter, a son and three grandchildren.
Dale A. Rader, a 50-year active member of the Oregon bar, died Dec. 7, 2001 at the age of 82. He was born April 3, 1919 in Colorado and grew up in Portland, attending Oregon State and Stanford University.
He fought as an officer in the 8th Air Force in the European theater, flying more than 30 missions in B-17s and B-24s, including the Normandy invasion on D-Day. He was awarded medals for valor and numerous other honors for his service.
Rader received J.D. and L.L.B. degrees from the University of San Francisco Law School. As a law student he hosted a radio program on the law in San Francisco. In 1951 he joined the OSB and then served as a JAG officer in the Korean conflict. He held positions as district attorney of Wheeler County and as deputy district attorney in Multnomah County before launching an active practice in Portland for 37 years. Rader then went on to practice fulltime as a partner of the Ontario, Ore., firm of Rader and Rader (which includes his son, Mark, and daughter, Diane, among others) until his death.
Rader was active in many civic organizations and charitable endeavors and gave freely of his time and expertise, mentoring many Oregon attorneys. The long-time pilot was a member of the Lawyer Pilots Association and was recently honored as a 50-year member of the Oregon State Bar. Rader was also the first recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.
Norman Legernes died Dec. 14, 2001 at the age of 79. He was born Aug. 18, 1922 in Portland and grew up in Hoquiam, Wash. He graduated from Pacific University and then the Northwestern College of Law in 1958. He joined the Oregon State Bar later that year. Legernes served as an assistant attorney general for the Oregon Department of Justice for 26 years, retiring in 1985.
Survivors include his wife, the former Dorothy Robinson, whom he married in 1948, two daughters and a son.
Lisa Brett Egan died Jan. 18, 2002. The 1988 graduate of Northwestern School of Law was a member of the national Lawyer Pilots Association. She had practiced with her husband, Lloyd Ericsson, in the Ericsson and Egan firm. Her husband predeceased her. Both had been active in the bar's Aviation Law Section.
Allan Hart passed away Feb. 2, 2002 at the age of 92. He was a partner in what is now Lindsay, Hart, Neil & Weigler, from 1968 until his retirement in 1985. He was a leading specialist in energy law, growing out of his service as general counsel to the fledgling BPA from 1940-42, his representation since 1946 of Reynolds Metals Co. and other leading Northwest users of power provided by BPA and other representation.
Hart graduated from Stanford in 1931 and from Yale Law School in 1934 and was admitted to the bar in Oregon later that year. After a year on the Yale Law School faculty, he returned to Portland and served as an assistant U.S. Attorney along with his friend Manley Strayer for two years. From 1938-39 Hart worked in Washington, D.C. for the U.S. Dept. of Justice under the famous New Deal trust buster, Thurman Arnold. He returned to Portland to join BPA's legal staff in 1939. After his World War II service in the South Pacific and elsewhere from 1942-46, he began a private practice in Portland. He was a partner in the Pendergrass firm (now Bullivant, Houser, Bailey) from 1947-54, headed his own firm from 1954-68, and was a partner from 1968 on in what became Lindsay, Hart, Neil & Weigler.
Hart was a leader in many community activities. He was a co-founder in 1955 of the Oregon chapter of the ACLU, serving on its board for many years, and handling many pro bono civil liberties cases. Among them were: Namba v. McCourt, 185 Or. 579 (1949) (invalidation of statue excluding Japanese immigrants from owning land), with Vern Dusenbery; In re Patterson, 213 Or. 398 (1958), cert. den. 356 U.S. 947 (1958) (admission to bar of former member of Communist Party), with Leo Levenson and others; In re Jolles, 235 Or. 262 (1963) (Same), with Dick Nahstoll and Harlow Lenon.
Hart was appointed to the State Board of Higher Education in 1957, serving until 1964, and also served on local school boards for the West Sylvan district and the Catlyn Gabel School.
His wife Ruth predeceased him by a few months. He is survived by two daughters and four grandchildren.
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