Executive Director’s Report, 0317 ALBJ, 78 The Alabama Lawyer 98 (2017)
| Author | Keith B. Norman, J. |
Keith B. Norman, J.
Goodbye to a Friend and Colleague
For 28 years I had the good fortune to work with Tony McLain. Tony arrived at the state bar four or five months after I started here in 1988. Following Bob Norris’s retirement, Tony was named as general counsel in 1996, becoming the bar’s fourth general counsel.
Tony was the state bar’s lawyer and, of course, the person who enforced our profession’s code of ethics. He provided the state bar’s officers and bar commissioners with legal advice on many occasions and represented the bar when litigation ensued as the result of the bar’s carrying out its regulatory responsibilities. His counsel and wisdom were respected by the many state bar presidents and commissioners he served over the years.
As the bar’s chief prosecutor, Tony expected all lawyers to conscientiously abide by the Rules of Professional Conduct. He was firm, but never mean-spirited or harsh when he was forced to prosecute a fellow lawyer. Tony was the consummate professional, which is how he expected all lawyers to behave. After his death, I had a number of lawyers call me to express their condolences. Two of the lawyers, in particular, extoled Tony’s many wonderful qualities, including his compassion. They were lawyers Tony had prosecuted. They professed that the kind and caring manner in which Tony had handled their cases had actually made them better people and lawyers and both were appreciative for what Tony had done for them.
I know that Tony positively affected many lives and careers by the way he conducted himself and operated the Office of General Counsel for more than two decades. Perhaps his finest hour, though, was when he became ill nearly four years ago and was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Tony, with the love and care of his wife, Leah, battled this disease with dignity, ferocity and a spirit t hat would have pleased the Apostle Paul. His faith never wavered and his...
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