William L. Marbury, Jr.

William Luke Marbury Jr. (September 12, 1901 – March 5, 1988) was an American lawyer who practiced with his family's law firm of Marbury, Miller & Evans (later Piper & Marbury, Piper Marbury Rudnick & Wolfe, Piper Rudnick, now DLA Piper). He was known to be a childhood friend of alleged Soviet spy Alger Hiss.

Background

William L. Marbury Jr. was born on September 12, 1901, in Baltimore. He grew up in the family home on Bolton Hill, Baltimore. Formerly U.S. Attorney General for Maryland (1894–1898), Marbury Sr. became president of the board of managers at Maryland's "Hospital for the 'Negro' Insane" (now Crownsville Hospital Center (1910–1935) and wrote a Segregation Ordinance.

He is a distant relative of William Marbury (1762–1835), 18th century American businessman and one of the "Midnight Judges" appointed by U.S. President John Adams the day before he left office. He was plaintiff in the landmark 1803 Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison. This ancestor came from Piscataway, Maryland; nearby is Marbury, Maryland.

Marbury Jr. attended the Boy's Latin and Episcopal High Schools and the Virginia Military Institute. In 1921, he graduated from the University of Virginia. In 1924, he graduated from Harvard Law School after serving on the school's law review. While at Harvard, he served as editor of the Harvard Law Review (as later did his friend and protegee, Alger Hiss) and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. In November 5, 1923, he gave a speech on the "practical side of the professional and the ideals." In 1925, he passed the Maryland Bar.

Private practice In 1925, Marbury joined his father's firm, then called Marbury Miller & Evans. He worked there until his death in 1988 in a career that spanned more than 60 years.

In 1952, he merged the family firm of Marbury, Miller & Evans with Piper, Watkins, Avirett & Egerton to create Piper & Marbury. In 1999, Piper & Marbury merged with Rudnick & Wolfe of Chicago to form Piper Marbury Rudnick & Wolfe, then "the largest U.S. law firm merger in history." In 2002, Piper Marbury Rudnick & Wolfe, LLP, dropped "Marbury" from its name.

In 1966, he tried but failed to "censure" key provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1968.

In 1965, he served one year as president of the Maryland State Bar Association (as his father William L. Marbury Sr. had done in 1910).

He organized the Maryland Legal Aid Bureau. He was also one of the original members of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law under U.S. President John F. Kennedy, to aid civil rights cases.

In 1948, he served as a U.S. delegate to the second session of signatories of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in Geneva, Switzerland. On August 8, 1948, he received instructions to attend that meeting and did not return until September 12. of HUAC hearings in Washington, libel lawsuit in Baltimore, and Grand Jury investigation in New York during 1948, Marbury led the Hiss defense team in the libel suit against William D. Macmillan Sr. of Semmes, Bowen & Semmes, who defended Chambers.

Years later, Marbury was critical of Hiss. After reviewing his HUAC testimony, he noted: There was no doubt that in his appearances before the Committee in my absence Alger had handled himself very badly. He had adopted a rather arrogant attitude and had repeatedly fenced with the members of the Committee. He had written a letter to the Chairman which reeked with hurt pride and indignation, and had grudgingly admitted association with Chambers under the name of George Crosley, but only after examining his teeth and asking him to read aloud some passages from a document. Susan M. Briscoe, Luke Marbury (of Venable, Baetjer and Howard, whose son is grandson Hugh Marbury of DLA Piper

Marbury associated with the Peabody Institute of Baltimore most of his life. He served as trustee (1935–1967), as president (1948–1957), and chairman (1957–1967).

He also served as a member of: Advisory board, Center for Advanced Studies, University Virginia (1971–1978) Fellow, American Bar Foundation (50-Year award 1984) Maryland Bar Foundation (chairman 1973–1975) American College Trial Lawyers American Academy of Arts and Sciences National Institute of Trial Advocacy (director 1971–1976) American Law Institute (member council 1946–1980) Maryland Institute for Continuing Professional Education Lawyers (president 1976–1978, trustee 1976–1981) American Judicature Society (director 1939–1941, Herbert Harley award 1981) American Bar Association (member committee judicial conduct 1969) Baltimore Bar Association

In 1952, the Harvard Crimson noted that Whittaker Chambers had written in the Saturday Evening Post (which was serializing his memoir, Witness) that "Marbury, a prominent Baltimore lawyer, supported Hiss because the charges against Hiss represented an attack against 'the island of caste'."

Marbury died age 86 on March 5, 1988, at his home in Baltimore.

Legacy

In addition to his writings, Marbury left many of his papers to the Maryland Historical Society.

In 1987, the Harvard Corporation's president, Nathan M. Pusey, called Marbury "one of the great heroes of the Corporation."

Shortly after his death, the Maryland Legal Services Corporation named after him in 1988 a "William L. Marbury Outstanding Advocate Award."

In 2005, the Johns Hopkins University dedicated the offices of DLA Piper to Marbury's memory.

DLA Piper established a "Marbury Institute" to train lawyers in house. The Hiss-Chambers Libel Suit (1981)