I just heard that former U.S. Attorney and Jenner & Block partner Thomas P. Sullivan has died at the age of 91. He was a giant in the legal profession, a dedicated public servant, and one of my mentors back when I was an associate at Jenner in the early 1990s. I learned a lot from him, and was sorry to hear of his passing. Obituary in the Chicago Sun-Times here, and on Jenner & Block's website here.
One more thing I'd like to mention is that I probably wouldn't be an IP professor if it hadn't been for Tom Sullivan. He was not an IP specialist, but I was assigned to work with him on an appeal in a trademark case in the early '90s. Although I had done a (very) little bit of IP work at another firm before joining Jenner, I didn't know anything about trademark law going into this case; but an issue I researched in connection with it eventually resulted in my first law review article, which in turn was instrumental in landing me my first job as a law professor, which in turn led to my specializing in IP. If it hadn't been for Tom Sullivan, who knows what I'd be doing today?
Update: There are additional obituaries in the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune.
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