IN MEMORIAM

William W.  Voorhees, Jr.,  Esq.

We are deeply saddened to report that our dear friend and distinguished colleague, Bill Voorhees, died today.

Bill was truly the lawyer’s lawyer. For more than a quarter of a century, Bill represented lawyers and their professional liability insurers in legal malpractice and insurance coverage disputes. He then took up the cause of clients who had been victimized by  lawyer malpractice.  

Bill gave abundantly of his time and efforts to help improve the quality of the practicing bar. He served on the District X Ethics Committee and as President of the Morris County Bar Association. I had the privilege of serving under his Chairmanship of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Malpractice Insurance Committee.  Bill and I frequently collaborated on topics of mutual concern relating to the law governing lawyers, including, most recently,  the insurance industry  and the New Jersey State Bar Association’s misguided efforts to legislatively overrule the victories for client rights that Bill and his colleagues achieved in the Courts. 

Bill and I shared much in common: We both became Certified Civil Trial Attorneys by the New Jersey Supreme Court at the same time and  received  recognition from  SuperLawyers, Best Lawyers and Martindale Hubbell as being amongst the very few  plaintiff legal malpractice specialists.    We both worked on CLE programs. We became blogging partners, each presenting our own unique perspectives on this area of the law we both passionately practiced. Bill and I deeply believed that one of the most effective ways to improve the quality of practicing lawyers is by holding those who provided substandard service to their clients accountable for their misdeeds  and by seeking compensation for their victims.  In that ongoing battle and in all the battles yet to come,  I will deeply miss my colleague, my friend and fellow blogger. 

Rest in peace my friend. Another  scholar, gentleman and warrior on the side of justice like you will be hard to find. Your work and pragmatic approach  over the past decades is a legacy to us all and will serve as an ongoing inspiration to your brothers and sisters at the Bar,  who seek, as did you with such grace and zeal, to ameliorate the injustices caused by those who should have protected against them.   Rest in peace, my friend, I will sorely miss you. 

Bennett J. Wasserman, Esq.
Editor-in-Chief 

Legal Malpractice Law Review

Tagged with: Insight & Commentary

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