Emeritus Council member Lawrence E. Walsh, a former federal judge and Wall Street lawyer who came out of retirement to serve as the independent counsel investigating the Iran-Contra matter from 1986 to 1994, died on March 19 in his home in Oklahoma City following a brief illness. He was 102.
Lawrence Edward Walsh was born in Port Maitland, Nova Scotia, Canada, on January 8, 1912. He grew up in Flushing, Queens, New York, where he attended Flushing High School. His father died when he was 14, and he worked his way through college and law school as a merchant seaman during the summers. He graduated from Columbia College in 1932 and from Columbia Law School in 1935.
Judge Walsh began his career as a prosecutor in the office of New York County District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey. After Dewey was elected governor, Judge Walsh served first as assistant counsel to the governor and then as counsel to the governor. He later held posts as counsel to the New York State Public Service Commission and general counsel and executive director of the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor.
From 1954 to 1957, Judge Walsh was a U.S. district judge in the Southern District of New York, appointed by President Eisenhower. From 1957 to 1960 he served in the Eisenhower Administration as the deputy attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice, charged with overseeing the continued desegregation of public schools. He was a principal draftsman of the Civil Rights Act of 1960, which provided for the appointment of referees to help African Americans register to vote.
In 1961, Judge Walsh joined the New York City law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell as a senior partner. In 1969, Judge Walsh served as deputy head of the United States delegation to the Paris peace talks on Vietnam, with the rank of ambassador. Judge Walsh retired from Davis Polk in 1982 and moved to his wife’s home town, Oklahoma City, where he was of counsel to the law firm of Crowe & Dunlevy.
In 1986, at age 74, Judge Walsh was appointed to investigate the Iran-Contra matter. As independent counsel, he and his office brought indictments against Oliver North, John Poindexter, Caspar Weinberger, and other defendants, only to see some convictions overturned on appeal and other defendants pardoned by President George H. W. Bush. He later wrote a book about his experiences, Firewall: The Iran/Contra Conspiracy and Cover-Up. He also wrote an autobiography titled The Gift of Insecurity.
In addition to his long and varied career in both the public and private sectors, Judge Walsh was a leader in the legal profession, serving as president of the American Bar Association (1975-1976) and the New York State Bar Association (1966-1967). Elected to The American Law Institute in 1959, Judge Walsh became a member of the Council in 1963, serving for 34 years before taking emeritus status in 1997.
Judge Walsh is survived by five children, four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. His wife of 47 years, Mary Porter Walsh, died in 2012.