REED, Barry C(lement) 1927-2002

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born January 28, 1927, in San Francisco, CA; died July 19, 2002, in Norwood, MA. Attorney and author. Reed was a highly respected trial lawyer who gained national attention as the author of the bestselling novel The Verdict (1980). Earning his bachelor's degree from Holy Cross College in 1949 after serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, Reed went on to receive his law degree from Boston College in 1954 and was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar the following year. Entering into practice in Boston, Reed earned a solid reputation as an attorney specializing in medical malpractice, personal injury, and civil litigation cases. For his outstanding legal work, he was honored with the Clarence Darrow Award for trial excellence. Reed was also a former president of the Massachusetts Trial Lawyers Association, cofounder of the American Society of Law and Medicine, and one-time governor of the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Lawyers. Before he gained literary fame with The Verdict, Reed was the coauthor of The Heart and the Law: A Practical Guide to Medicolegal Cardiology (1968) and The Law and Clinical Medicine (1970). The success of his first novel, which was adapted as the 1982 Academy Award-winning film of the same title, encouraged Reed to publish three more works of fiction: The Choice (1991), The Indictment (1994), and The Deception (1997).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

periodicals

Chicago Tribune, July 22, 2002, section 2, p. 7.

Los Angeles Times, July 22, 2002, p. B9.

New York Times, July 23, 2002, p. A17.

Washington Post, July 23, 2002, p. B6.