James D. St. Clair

James Draper St. Clair (April 14, 1920 – March 10, 2001) was an American lawyer, who practiced law for many years in Boston with the firm of Hale & Dorr. He was the chief legal counsel for President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal.

Early life James St. Clair was born on April 14, 1920, in Akron, Ohio.

Legal career Army–McCarthy hearings St. Clair first gained notice while assisting Joseph Welch in the Army–McCarthy hearings of 1954.

In 1955, St. Clair assisted with the defense of Wendell H. Furry, a Harvard physics professor who was charged with Contempt of Congress for refusing to testify before McCarthy and the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

1960s and 70s In 1961, he was hired by Massachusetts Governor John A. Volpe to prepare removal proceedings against Boston police commissioner Leo J. Sullivan. The following year he handled the removal proceedings against state waterways director Rodolphe G. Bessette following Bessette's indictment for perjury and conspiracy. In 1967 he defended Frederick Wiseman when the Massachusetts government attempted to censor Titicut Follies, Wiseman's documentary about the conditions of Bridgewater State Hospital. In 1968 he defended William Sloane Coffin, a Yale chaplain who was found guilty of treason for advising students to avoid the draft (Coffin's counsel during the appeals process, Arthur Goldberg, got the conviction overturned). In 1972, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court appointed St. Clair and Raymond Young to investigate the complaints against Judge Jerome P. Troy. During the early 1970s, St. Clair served as the chief counsel for the Boston School Committee in a lawsuit that led to court ordered bussing.

Counsel for Richard Nixon In December 1973, St. Clair was appointed as a special counsel to Richard Nixon. Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974, and St. Clair's assignment as his legal counsel ended on August 14 after completing Judge John Sirica's request to make a final search for a missing White House tape.

Later career In 1976, St. Clair was assigned by the Roxbury District Court to defend Randolph Lewis, an African-American charged with severely beating a white man, who later died. During the trial, St. Clair was assigned bodyguards due to threats made against him. The indictments against Lewis were dropped in 1983.

St. Clair served as legal counsel for the states of Maine, South Carolina, and the town of Mashpee, Massachusetts, who were being sued by Native Americans claiming lands once occupied by their tribes. In 1983, St. Clair led Buddy LeRoux's legal battle to take over ownership of the Boston Red Sox.

In 1992, Boston Mayor Raymond Flynn appointed St. Clair to lead a commission investigating the Police Department. The commission made 36 recommendations, including that Flynn not reappoint his lifelong friend, Francis Roache, as police commissioner. The police department elected to adopt 31 of the 36 recommendations, however the mayor elected to retain Roache.

Personal life and death St. Clair resided in Wellesley, Massachusetts.