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Former ABA president, ‘a towering determine…
Former ABA president, ‘a towering determine within the authorized neighborhood,’ dies at 85
By Debra Cassens Weiss
July 14, 2025, 10:34 am CDT
R. William (Invoice) Ide III
Atlanta lawyer R. William (Invoice) Ide III, who served as president of the American Bar Affiliation for the 1993 to 1994 time period, died on July 8 on the age of 85.
Ide “was a towering determine within the authorized neighborhood and a fierce advocate for civil rights, a good and simply authorized system, and the rule of regulation,” based on a web-based obituary.
As ABA president, Ide centered on judicial independence and integrity, authorized entry, and authorized ethics reform, based on an ABA press launch.
Ide additionally promoted various dispute decision, advocated for professional bono work and strengthened the ABA’s dedication to ethics in a means that promoted public service over monetary acquire, the press launch states. New mannequin ethics reforms underneath his management handled lawyer promoting and lawyer transparency. He additionally addressed racial and social bias within the justice system, “laying the groundwork for future ABA variety initiatives,” the assertion says.
Apart from serving as ABA president, Ide was a member of the ABA Board of Governors and the ABA Home of Delegates. He was vice chair of the ABA Process Pressure for American Democracy and was chair of the ABA Rule of Regulation Initiative from 1997 to 2009.
Extra not too long ago, Ide served as vice chair of the ABA’s Process Pressure for American Democracy, which mobilized members to guard the appropriate to vote forward of the 2024 presidential election.
“Invoice Ide was devoted to a good and simply authorized system,” ABA President William R. Bay stated within the press launch. “He was a passionate advocate for judicial independence and entry to justice for all. He had a love and respect for democracy and defended it each at residence and all over the world. We are going to miss him.”
Ide had “an unwavering love and dedication” to household and associates, the net obituary says. His “ABA associates are too quite a few to call, however the ‘Mafia’ and prolonged ABA circle turned a part of the Ide household; conferences doubled as household holidays and alternatives to spend time with ABA ‘aunts’ and ‘uncles.’ ”
In keeping with the net obituary, Ide’s great-great grandfather was a former regulation associate of Abraham Lincoln.
Ide had “a gradual begin academically” earlier than regulation college, incomes the nickname “C Common Ide” from his mom, based on the net obituary. He excelled after switching majors from engineering to historical past.
“Invoice’s grandmother believed that he additionally studied on the Sorbonne in Paris—as a result of she had paid his tuition. However in reality, he cashed out his college charges and acquired a Vespa to tour Europe” with a good friend, the obituary says.
A graduate of the College of Virginia College of Regulation, Ide was a former regulation clerk for Decide Griffin Bell of the New Orleans-based fifth U.S. Circuit Court docket of Appeals.
Ide would later inform his grandchildren that witnessing an finish to desegregation was a formative expertise. He left his fifth Circuit place “with a transparent understanding of the regulation as a sacred software and protector of constitutional rights,” based on his obituary.
Ide previously labored at King & Spalding, Kutak Rock, Lengthy Aldridge and a regulation agency he based, Huie, Brown & Ide. After main the ABA, he joined Monsanto as normal counsel.
Ide married Gayle Marie Oliver in 1967. They’d three youngsters: Logan, Jennifer and Lucie. After Gayle’s loss of life, Ide “was fortunate sufficient to discover a soulmate once more,” in Lucy Vance, the obituary states.
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