ONE Connection | 15 Fascinating Facts About Pat McCartan

From the courtroom to the boardroom, Patrick Francis McCartan (1934–2020) made an indelible mark on Jones Day. During his 54 years with the Firm, including nine years as Managing Partner, he won a series of high-profile cases while accelerating Jones Day's expansion into a global powerhouse.

Former Managing Partner Dick Pogue praised Pat when he named him his successor in 1993: "He stands for quality above all else, and this is an attribute that our clients expect from us. His long series of successes in practice over the years augurs well for successful management of this wonderful enterprise."

Here are 15 notable facts about the Firm's sixth Managing Partner:

1. Pat showed an early interest in the law.

He was the son of a local police officer, an Irish immigrant, in Youngstown, Ohio. (His successor as Managing Partner, Steve Brogan, is also the son of a police officer.) While growing up, Pat was fascinated by courtroom proceedings and often could be found observing local trials.

2. He was a proud graduate of the University of Notre Dame and its law school.

Pat earned a bachelor's degree in 1956 from the university and won a scholarship to Notre Dame Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the Law Review, graduating first in his class in 1959. He later served as chairman of the university's board of trustees for seven years, received an honorary degree, and in 2007 was awarded Notre Dame's Laetare Medal, the oldest and most prestigious honor given to American Catholics whose life exemplifies their faith. "Pat had a deep sense of moral center and purpose," said Rev. John I. Jenkins, former university president. The law school's moot courtroom is named in Pat's honor.

3. Pat had a voice for radio.

He discovered this talent while working as an undergraduate student at the campus radio station. He gained notice by enraging some conservative listeners with his speeches attacking Senator Joseph McCarthy.

4. He was married to his high school sweetheart for 62 years.

In his third year of law school, Pat married Lois Buchman, and they had two children and two grandchildren. When they built a house east of Cleveland in the 1980s, Pat worked closely with the builder and architect, overseeing the design, and perhaps satisfying his enduring interest in architecture.

5. He clerked for one U.S. Supreme Court Justice and was lifelong friends with another.

Pat clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Whittaker during the Court's 1959 Term. The following year, Pat joined Jones Day along with Antonin Scalia, and they remained lifelong friends. Scalia became an associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1986, serving until his death in 2016.

6. In a bold move, Pat called for the creation of a Partnership Committee.

Before Jack Reavis retired as Managing Partner in 1975 and named Allen C. Holmes as his successor, Pat proposed a Partnership Committee that would review decisions made by the Managing Partner regarding partner admissions and participation in profits. "The proposal did not go down well with Jack at first because he was a firm believer that the Managing Partner, and only the Managing Partner, should determine or even know about these matters and how they were decided," Pat said. But Reavis reluctantly agreed, and the Partnership Committee continues its important responsibilities to this day.

7. Pat headed up the Litigation Group for 16 years.

Pat, who joined the Firm in 1960 and became a partner in 1966, became head of the Litigation Group in 1976, where he built and cemented the Firm's reputation for unselfish teamwork and effective client service. During his tenure as chair of the Litigation Group, he innovated two important concepts: the "national coordinating counsel" model and the development of physical "litigation center" spaces in a number of offices, which served as secure hubs for managing large litigation matters. By the end of the 1980s, litigation was a driving force at the Firm, soaring from just six lawyers in 1960 to nearly 1,000 lawyers in all of the Firm's U.S. offices.

8. He led a series of significant client victories.

Examples include:

• The 1975 verdict for General Motors against defect claims in the Chevy Corvair, the vehicle that Ralph Nader had labeled "Unsafe At Any Speed." Not only did Pat prevail in the first class-action lawsuit, the defense also became a model for how the Firm would handle national class actions.
• The successful defense of a 1977 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration effort to force Firestone to recall 20 million Firestone 500 radial tires.
• The first-ever billion-dollar cash tender offer, compelling Exxon Corp. to pay Reliance Electric shareholders immediately when the district court had ordered Exxon to "hold separate" the Reliance assets pending an FTC investigation.

He also led hostile takeover defenses for several Firm clients such as Gillette, Hanna Mining, Diamond Shamrock, and Marathon Oil. For Marathon, he directed more than 50 lawyers to victory against Mobil Oil in what was in effect a $6.5 billion antitrust trial that the court required be prepared and tried in just 16 days. The Marathon/Mobil trial judge later said that Pat "was the dominant lawyer on both sides … [arguing] with such compelling force there is little left for his opponents to say."

9. Pat was lead counsel in two major cases involving two U.S. presidents in one year.

In 1980, he had President Jimmy Carter's gasoline tax declared unconstitutional and then successfully defended presidential candidate Ronald Reagan's right to $29.4 million in federal election funds. "We have always said that, since this case followed on the heels of the oil tax litigation, Jones Day has the rather unique distinction of having sued one president and defended another in the same year," Pat said.

10. Under Pat's leadership, the Firm added seven new offices.

During his nine-year tenure as Managing Partner, the Firm opened offices in Sydney, Shanghai, Madrid, Silicon Valley, Houston, Singapore, and Milan.

11. He crafted the 12 "Foundational Values" that guide and define the Firm to this day.

Pat believed these values should dictate the Firm's approach to every issue it may face, whether internal or external. As he once explained: "Our lawyers will continue to be guided by the same values that have guided us through a century of service to clients: integrity, accountability, competence, dedication, independence, courage, sensitivity, efficiency, attention to our clients' welfare, and commitment to the Firm. We will continue to operate worldwide as one Firm and will maintain the management structure that has served us so well since 1913." Read the full set of Firm Values.

12. Pat represented Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell for many years—and he would not be intimidated by angry fans.

In the mid-1990s, Modell stunned the NFL, the city of Cleveland, and football fans everywhere with his bombshell announcement: He was moving the team to Baltimore. Modell asked Pat if Jones Day would defend him in lawsuits brought against him—the Firm had represented the Browns in various matters since 1980 and Art Modell since 1977—and Pat accepted. Things got so tense that our lawyers and staff began receiving death threats and required police protection. An editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer called Pat to tell him that he should know that the next day's front page of the paper in large print would read: "JUDAS DAY." Pat told him politely that if he was trying to intimidate us, we had a policy against that. Despite the public's strong opposition, client response was overwhelmingly supportive, as they could imagine the Firm standing by them through their own difficult situations.

13. Pat sketched the Jones Day logo.

Pat had a talent for both design and caricature. With just a few strokes of the pen, he could capture someone's appearance or mien. As Steve Brogan once recalled, Pat easily could have been a police sketch artist. "I watched him apply those gifts to good effect on a United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Tokyo in June of 1989, when he kept experimenting with the design of a Jones Day logo until he settled on the one we use to this day."

Pat's creative spirit lives on in another way: In 2021, the Patrick F. McCartan Centennial Gallery opened as a calming space in the main lobby of the Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Pavilion on Cleveland Clinic's main campus, with support from Jones Day and the Jones Day Foundation. Featuring an interactive wall of historical highlights, the gallery is named in honor of Pat, who served as a Cleveland Clinic trustee.

14. His acts of kindness touched many.

Recalled Steve Brogan in his tribute to Pat: "During one of the major trials that was the subject of great public attention, Pat learned from a member of the trial team that Mickey Pohl's wife had gone to the hospital with indications of a premature birth of their daughter, Liz. Mickey stayed at the trial site that night, working on something that seemed important at the time.

Just as Mickey was arriving for the early-morning meeting, Pat pulled him aside and with his stern look said he had thought better of Mick that he would think anything in a case or trial was more important than taking care of his wife and family. Pat gave Mickey hell and told him he would never forgive himself if something happened to Kaya or the baby and he was not there. Pat had already arranged to use the client's plane. Two hours later, Mickey was at the hospital."

15. He was a great communicator.

Pat believed that keeping everyone informed and working for a common purpose elevated the likelihood of the Firm's success. He frequently acknowledged the importance of staff members and created regular communications for them. In addition, he shared Firm updates with all lawyers and staff through his annual "State of the Firm" address.