MCAULIFFE,
Daniel J
The Arizona Republic 3/18/2010
Daniel J. McAuliffe Daniel J. McAuliffe, a partner with the law firm of Snell & Wilmer, passed away on Friday, March 12, 2010, after a long battle with multiple myeloma. Dan led a life of accomplishment and contribution marked by an unrelenting commitment to the law and equal access to justice. With his passing, Arizona lost a champion of civil rights, a dean of the bar and a man who exemplified in thought and deed the best of the legal profession.
Dan was born in New York City on March 27, 1945. He lost his father, a distinguished physician, at a very early age and, after his mother became disabled, Dan and his sister Alice and two brothers, Paul and Kevin, largely raised themselves, showing remarkable resiliency as they struggled to keep their family together. Despite many challenges, Dan graduated at the top of his class at Regis High School, New York's most prestigious high school, where he achieved both academic and athletic honors. After high school, Dan majored in Russian at Fordham University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1966, while hosting a rock radio show, playing basketball and coaching the school's intercollegiate women's basketball team to its most successful season.
After considering a career in diplomacy, Dan--perhaps presciently--opted for Harvard Law School. There Dan, again, distinguished himself, graduating with honors in 1969. Following law school, he accepted a position with the Office of General Counsel at the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. He later became Counsel to the White House Committee on Education, charged with school desegregation. In 1970, Dan joined the United States Department of Justice as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General. There he became acquainted with many of the era's most important and sometimes controversial figures. J. Edgar Hoover tried to get Dan fired for leading a government employee anti-war demonstration. John Mitchell, H.R. Haldeman and other prominent players in the Watergate saga came to know Dan as a straight talking and incorruptible young lawyer.
After leaving Washington, Dan joined Snell & Wilmer in 1973, where he immediately began making his mark as a dynamic business litigator whose powerful intellect drew him to complex construction, finance and antitrust cases. Dan briefed and argued many important appeals, including as till important antitrust case argued before the United States Supreme Court. Perhaps most importantly, Dan's scholarship and commitment to legal ethics made him a champion of law reform and public access to justice. His contributions to these causes were recognized in 2009 when the State Bar of Arizona named its continuing legal education conference center in Dan's honor.
Dan served Snell&Wilmer, his community and the State Bar with great energy and dedication. He served on the City of Phoenix Human Rights Commission. He chaired his law firm's Ethics Committee for two decades, chaired the State Bar's Professionalism Course Committee, and served on the Executive Council of the Appellate Practice Section. Dan is the only Arizona lawyer to twice receive the bar's Member of the Year Award, receiving it in 1991 and 2009. He served several terms on the bar's Board of Governors, and then led the State Bar of Arizona as its president from July 2007 to June 2008. He received the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education's Walter E. Craig Award for distinguished service in 2005. Dan's scholarship was reflected in countless refreshingly lucid and elegant appellate briefs and in his six books on legal procedures, evidence and ethics, many of which he co-authored with his devoted wife, Shirley Wahl McAuliffe.
Throughout his eventful life, Dan never lost his perspective or took himself too seriously. His brash sense of humor eased many difficult days and the raucous sound of his laugh will remain an indelible memory for all who knew him. Dan's indomitable spirit never wavered as he fought gallantly an aggressive form of multiple myeloma over the past several years with the love and support of his wife, Shirley Wahl McAuliffe, daughter, Kelly McAuliffe and sister, Alice Callahan.
Dan is survived by his wife Shirley Wahl McAuliffe, daughter Kelly McAuliffe, his sister Alice Callahan, brother-in- law Richard Callahan and brother Paul McAuliffe. Dan's remarkable life will be remembered at a memorial celebration scheduled for 3:00 p.m., April 1, 2010, at the Phoenix Art Museum.
The McAuliffe Family requests that contributions be made in lieu of flowers to the International Myeloma Foundation, 12650 Riverside Drive, Suite 206, North Hollywood, California, 91607 or donate online at www.dmcauliffe.myeloma.org.