Patrick F. McCartan Jr. 1934-2020

He was the beloved husband of 62 years to Lois Ann (nee Buchman); dear father of Mary Karen McCartan DeSantis (Victor) and the late Patrick Francis McCartan III; and cherished grandfather to Michael Patrick DeSantis and Thomas Christopher DeSantis. He treasured his family, his profession and the University of Notre Dame; and he was a man of deep faith, integrity, wisdom and love.

A proud graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Notre Dame Law School, Mr. McCartan served as a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Whittaker. He then joined the law firm of Jones Day, where he gained renown as a trial lawyer, was a beloved managing partner of the firm from 1993 until 2002, and oversaw significant expansion of the firm in the U.S. and globally.

He was cited in surveys conducted by The National Law Journal as one of the country’s most respected and influential lawyers. In his 1994 book, “America’s Top Trial Lawyers: Who They Are and Why They Win,” legal scholar Donald E. Vinson listed Mr. McCartan among those consummate courtroom advocates whose reputations are associated with major cases that have had a significant impact on society as a whole. Also featured in The Wall Street Journal, The American Lawyer, and The Best Lawyers in America, he is one of the few attorneys to have enjoined one president of the United States and defended another.

Mr. McCartan served the legal profession, his community and the causes important to him throughout his life. He served as chair of the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees, president of the Bar Association of Greater Cleveland and chair of the Board of the Greater Cleveland Growth Association, and on the boards of the Cleveland Clinic, Ursuline College and Gilmour Academy. He was a member of the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, the U.S. Japan Business Council, the Ohio Business Roundtable, the Ohio Board of Bar Examiners and the Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure for the United States Courts.

In 2007, he was awarded Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal, the oldest and most prestigious honor given to American Catholics whose life exemplified their faith. Among other honors he received are an honorary degree from Notre Dame, the Archdiocese of Cleveland’s 1994 Archbishop Edward F. Hoban Award, and the Anti-Defamation League’s 1998 Torch of Liberty Award. He was a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, as well as an honorary overseas member of the English Commercial Bar.

His family is deeply thankful for the Judson / South Franklin Circle care and hospice teams.

Due to the public health situation, a memorial Mass and celebration of life will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Mr. McCartan’s name to Malachi House at 2810 Clinton Ave., Cleveland, OH 44113, or directed to pediatric cancer research at the Cleveland Clinic Philanthropy Institute, P.O. Box 931517, Cleveland, OH 44193-1655.

Please sign the Tribute Wall at murphyfamily funeralhome.com.

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