LOEVINGER, Lee 1913-2004

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born April 24, 1913, in St. Paul, MN; died of complications from heart disease, April 26, 2004, in Washington, DC. Attorney and author. Loevinger was best known for his work as an antitrust attorney and as a former commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission. A Minnesota native, he attended the University of Minnesota for both his undergraduate work and for his law studies, completing his J.D. in 1936. After working briefly for a Kansas City law firm, he joined the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, DC, as a trial and regional attorney in 1937. Enlisting in the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1942, Loevinger spent time in Europe and became a lieutenant commander at the same time he worked in the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division. After the war, he became a partner at a Minneapolis law firm until he was elected to the Minnesota Supreme Court in 1960. The next year, he left the bench for the U.S. Department of Justice, where he was an assistant attorney general in charge of the Antitrust Division, and, from 1963 to 1968, the FCC commissioner. One of his most significant career accomplishments came in 1963, when he successfully argued against the merger of two banks in Philadelphia because the business deal would harm competition in violation of the Clayton act; it was the first trial of its kind before the U.S. Supreme Court. It was also while at the FCC that Loevinger played a key role in establishing the 911 emergency telephone service. After leaving government service in 1968, Loevinger became a partner at Hogan & Hartson, entering semi-retirement in 1985 and serving as counsel to the firm for the remainder of his life. He was also vice president and director of Craig-Hallum Corp. in Minneapolis from 1968 to 1973. Loevinger was the author of several books concerning legal issues, including The Law of Free Enterprise: How to Recognize and Maintain the American Economic System (1949), Jurimetrics: The Methodology of Legal Inquiry, Law, and Contemporary Problems (1963), and American Jurisprudence Trials, Volume 24: Defending Antitrust Lawsuits (1977). The founder of the journal Jurimetrics, Loevinger became fascinated with science later in his life, founding the section on science and technology of the American Bar Association, contributing to science journals, and publishing Science as Evidence (1995).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Chicago Tribune, May 7, 2004, Section 3, p. 9.

Los Angeles Times, May 12, 2004, p. B11.

New York Times, April 8, 2004, p. A27.

Washington Post, May 5, 2004, p. B6.