Legal Pad learned yesterday that longtime McCutchen, Doyle (now Bingham McCutchen) partner Jed Hurley died on July 4. The firm provided a brief obituary notice outlining Hurley’s accomplishments in and out of the profession, and announcing a memorial service for next Tuesday. The full notice is posted after the jump. Legal Pad offers its sympathies to Hurley’s family and colleagues.
— Brian McDonough
John Edward (Jed) Hurley, Jr., a well-known San Francisco trial lawyer and a partner for 30 years with McCutchen, Doyle, Brown and Enersen (now Bingham McCutchen), died July 4 after a brief illness.
Jed was born in Wichita, Kansas on October 16, 1932. He graduated from Wichita State University in 1959 after serving in U.S. Army Intelligence and obtained his law degree from the University of Kansas in 1962. Jed worked with the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. before joining the McCutchen firm in 1964. During Jed’s career as a trial lawyer, he specialized in insurance, maritime, and products liability law, and he tried cases involving marine casualties, auto design and defects, and insurance broker malpractice, among other matters. From 1990 to 2003, Jed served as chairman of the State Bar of California Malpractice Insurance Committee, responsible for oversight of the State Bar-sponsored malpractice insurance program.
In 1985, Jed became a founder of MPC Insurance Ltd., a company that provided professional liability insurance to many of San Francisco’s largest law firms. Jed served as the first president and CEO of MPC, finally retiring 1999. Jed was also instrumental in the founding of Nor-Cal Mutual Insurance Company, Southern California Physician’s Insurance Exchange, and the Dentist’s Insurance Company.
Jed also acted as an Early Neutral Evaluator for the Northern District of California, a settlement panelist for the San Francisco Superior Court, a pro-tem judge for the San Francisco Municipal Court, and an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association. Jed lectured extensively in the U.S., England and Canada on legal and insurance broker malpractice topics, maritime law issues and the formation of captive insurance companies. Jed was a member of the state bars of Kansas and California and of the U.S. Supreme Court, and held memberships in the American Bar Association, the San Francisco Bar Association and the Maritime Law Association.
Jed was a member of the Wichita State University Board of Directors and was the 1996 recipient of the university’s President’s Medal. He was a past member of the University of Kansas School of Law Advisory Committee and in 1987 received the law school’s Distinguished Alumnus Citation. Jed was a member of the Finance Committee of St. Dominic’s Catholic Church in San Francisco and was a past president of the San Francisco Easter Seals Society.
Jed is survived by his wife, Jo Sicking Hurley, a sister and three brothers, and numerous nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, July 14, 2009 at 2:30 p.m. at St. Dominic's Catholic Church, 2390 Bush St., San Francisco.
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