Anderson Kill is saddened to learn of the passing of our esteemed long-time colleague, John H. Doyle III, on December 2. John was distinguished as a civil rights lawyer, a federal prosecutor, a white collar defense attorney, a corporate litigator, and a dedicated pro bono attorney who worked tirelessly to advance fairness and sentencing reform in the criminal justice system.
Mr. Doyle first joined Anderson Kill in 1972 and practiced in the firm for nearly 30 years. Like many of the firm’s early partners, including founder Eugene R. Anderson (who launched Anderson Kill in 1969), he was an alumnus of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where he served a second stint in the 1970s, becoming Chief of the Criminal Division before returning to Anderson Kill. Early in his career he opened the first offices in the Deep South for the Lawyers' Committee For Civil Rights Under Law, then served as Assistant Counsel to the Committee in Jackson, Mississippi in 1965 and 1966.
At Anderson Kill, Mr. Doyle tried civil cases in the areas of professional liability, Lanham Act, shipping industry disputes, and preferential payments to bank creditors in bankruptcy. He litigated a major contract, patent and joint venture action in the field of biotechnology and prosecuted a patent infringement and breach of distributorship agreement case in the same field. He was Consultant to the Special Prosecutor for the State of Ohio in the Home State Savings Bank prosecutions and represented the FDIC in an investigation of the looting of a New York bank by its former management. He handled a series of investigations and prosecutions of major civil claims on behalf of the Liquidators of IIT, a Luxembourg mutual fund taken over and looted by Robert Vesco.
Robert M. Horkovich, Anderson Kill’s managing shareholder commented, “We honored John not only as a great attorney, team member and mentor to many in the firm but also as a hero of the civil rights movement and a lifetime advocate for fairness in the criminal justice system. We are proud that he helped to build Anderson Kill and worked here at our side for so many years. We offer our deep condolence to John’s wife Mary Ellen, his sons Noah and Oliver, and his family.”