I'll Miss You Jack

Jack Morgan, a mentor of mine from my stint at the civil litigation firm that I worked at during my first summer in law school, passed away this past Saturday. I found out the news today while at work. Although it's not widely known, Jack committed suicide. Knowing this shook me up pretty good today.

I know it's cliche to say this, but Jack was one of the good guys. When I worked at that civil firm, he was one of the few attorneys who took the time to get to know you and actually would get you involved on interesting projects. Sitting in his office, I would tell him what I was working on, and he would say, "want to work on something that's actually interesting and fun?" Even while working at that law firm, he found the time to fight the good fights. I discovered this when he had me work on a case where he represented the Utah Environmental Congress in their attempts to prevent an ATV Jamboree in National Forest Land. He was seeking a temporary injunction on the event due to the National Forest Service not following their own rules, and although he lost (not hard when Dee Benson is issuing the ruling), he inspired a budding attorney. It wasn't until later that I found out that he was also representing Douglas Carter, a death row inmate, on his death row appeals. When helping him out on that case, pouring through record after record, I discovered that Jack had taken this case way back when he graduated from law school. He had me look through every document to find anything that might raise an appeal issue. He was tireless and unyielding. When I told him that I could no longer help him on his appeal because I clerked for the DAs office, I could feel his disappointment, but he was too much of gentleman to show it.

Jack had class and respect for people, and you could tell that he loved nothing more than getting to know you. As my current mentor tells me "Guys like us [Jack] can't work in law firms." I couldn't be happier for Jack when I heard that he left civil practice for criminal practice. I remember when he took me to a client meeting where he had to "shake down" his civil client for the firm's fee. He was terrible at it, and you could tell the client was taking advantage of that. Afterward, sitting in the Cabana club, talking about what happened, I felt an unease, which I interpreted as disgust, with himself about the whole scene. He made a snide comment about how in his line of work, you had to bring in the bacon or the other partners would give you no end of shit.

But, he left civil practice and moved to being a trial attorney. Jack Morgan was actually a colleague of mine. I remember seeing him at last year's DUI CLE and we chatted about how much fun it was to practice criminal law. He was excited. When I'd see him in court he would always find time to ask how things were going. I was psyched when he would ask me for my opinion about motions and cases. "Tell the judge that pursuant to Rule 4 of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure, this case should be dismissed because the State has not and is not timely prosecuting it." It worked for him.

He was the main attorney that represented Nancy Workman at her criminal trial. I desperately wanted her to lose. Somehow, someway, Jack pulled victory out of a shit case. Although I was incredulous at the verdict, I was happy that Jack did it. Why? Jack deserved it.

I'm still trying to make sense of his death. Not sure what happens to make someone plunge to those depths. When he was a little more reserved, I could feel a melancholy just below his surface. The reflective compliment he gave about his first wife, the distaste in asking people for money. I noticed that Lawyers Helping Lawyers was listed in his obituary. I hope to God that no one missed the warning signs. Guys like Jack are few and far between these days, and in our profession, we need all of them that we can. Jack, thank you for always making the time to mentor me and to befriend me. You were an outstanding person, and I can only hope to accomplish the least of your achievements. Jack, whether you knew it or not, you made positive impacts in the people who knew you. I'll definitely miss you.

back from the dead

back in full effect, y'all.