Max Wildman 1919-2011
It is with great sorrow that Wildman Harrold announces the death of Max Wildman — one of Chicago’s most legendary trial lawyers, founder of Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon LLP, mentor and role model to hundreds of young attorneys, and civic leader. Mr. Wildman passed away on September 16, 2011. He was 91.
Although his lawyering skills were extolled on the front page of The Wall Street Journal and by Dirksen Federal Building court buffs whose newsletter ranked him “number one,” Wildman took his greatest pride in starting Wildman Harrold in 1967 and watching it grow from a small operation to a national law firm whose longstanding reputation in litigation is now complemented by its intellectual property and transactional practices. The firm represents private businesses and Fortune 500 companies.
Such growth could only be dreamed of over forty years ago, when Wildman, already recognized as one of Chicago’s top trial lawyers for his representation of clients like IBM, left a secure position at the well-established Kirkland, Fleming, Green, Martin & Ellis (now Kirkland & Ellis LLP) to strike out on his own with three partners and two associates.
Wildman Harrold's first office shared space with a tailor over the old Brooks Brothers store on Michigan Avenue. By 1973, the firm had grown to almost 40 lawyers and moved into more traditional quarters in the IBM Building. Today, Wildman Harrold represents clients throughout the country with offices in Chicago and Los Angeles. On October 1, 2011, the firm will merge with Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP, carrying forward the Wildman legacy in the new firm: Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP.
“Max always believed that the strength of a firm resided in the individual and that the future strength of the firm resided in providing opportunity for individuals to grow and develop in their own right,” said Jim Dorr, who recently retired as partner at the firm after 42 years.
As the firm grew, so did Wildman’s reputation as a trial lawyer. In the 1970s and ‘80s, he tried several high profile cases in both state and federal court here, including representing the American Medical Association, which along with several other defendants was charged with violating the Sherman Antitrust Act and conspiring to eliminate the chiropractic profession, and in the Sealy Mattress antitrust litigation.
“Max was a master trial strategist,” said Tom Allen, a founding partner of the firm. “I often ran strategy questions by him for his opinion. He spent a lot of time representing large corporations. His technique was to humanize the corporation. He was a master at taking a case as he found it and making the best of any fact situation. He was a brilliant cross-examiner. He could make any opposing witness his witness.”
Born in Terre Haute, Ind., in 1919 and raised in Peru, Ind., Wildman knew he wanted to be a trial lawyer by the time he was 11. His father’s brother was a lawyer, and young Max frequently accompanied him to court. During high school summers, he worked long hours in a local factory, canning succotash and corn. There he developed a tremendous respect for working people, a respect that he believed helped him relate to juries. “I was blessed,” he later said. “I think to be a good trial lawyer you need to truly appreciate the dignity of all human beings whatever they do.”
After graduating from Butler University in 1941 (where he was class president and participated in public speaking, theatre, and high stakes poker games), Wildman entered the University of Michigan Law School. Originally in the Class of 1944, he left school and spent 39 months in the U.S. Air Force. After earning his J.D. in 1947, he joined the Kirkland firm, where his skills as a trial lawyer led to partnership in just five years. He also earned an MBA from the University of Chicago during this period.
Why leave Kirkland? Wildman later explained: “I thought: What am I going to do? Am I just going to plod along here the rest of my life or am I going to have fun? Try something. That had great appeal.”
He remained true to that philosophy for the rest of his life. “Max was an exceptional individual,” said Craig White, chair of the firm’s Litigation Practice. “He was a savvy businessman and a masterful trial attorney who had a genuine affinity for every person he met. He presented the same self to everybody. The glass is half full, the sun will come up tomorrow, and you are a great person.”
Wildman served as Managing Partner of the firm through 1986.
“I followed him as managing partner,” said partner Jerry Esrick. “Can you imagine a worse job to take? Yet Max was invaluable in advising me in fulfilling that role. He liked nothing better than giving lawyers in the firm a boost. He’d bring in the business and then hand it off to younger lawyers to handle it. That’s one of the reasons we have such a solid cadre of lawyers in the firm today.”
In addition to his leadership at the firm, Max was a leader in the community. Active in politics, he ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1962. In 1982, he received the American Jewish Committee’s Learned Hand Human Relations Award. He was a member of the Society of Trial Lawyers and the Barristers Society, and a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers.
“Max was ahead of his time,” said Bob Shuftan, Managing Partner and Chair of Wildman Harrold’s Executive Committee. “His vision for a law firm 40 years ago previewed many of the changes in the legal industry and in client service which have become standard over the last decade. His perspective, which emphasized listening and addressing the needs of others rather than talking about yourself, has shaped our lawyers and our law firm. He had a profound impact on many, and his legacy will remain with us. The extended family of Wildman Harrold—attorneys, staff, alumni, clients and friends—celebrate the contributions he made to our profession and the positive effect he had on our lives.”
Max became Of Counsel in 1992. A long-time resident of Lake Bluff, he continued to come into the firm on a somewhat regular basis well into his 80s, although fishing and travel were by then equal priorities.
Max is survived by his wife of 63 years, Joyce Smith Wildman, daughter Leslie Wildman of New York City, and a son, William Wildman of Chicago. He was preceded in death by his daughter Kimberly. Services will be private. The firm will host a memorial at a later date.