Melvyn L. Cantor

MELVYN L. CANTOR, prominent attorney and beloved husband, brother, father and grandfather, passed away on May 14, 2011 at the age of 68. Mel was born in Boston on August 13, 1942, and grew up in the city's Dorchester and West Roxbury neighborhoods. He was graduated from the University of Vermont in 1964 and received a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law three years later. After spending a year as a clerk to Judge Stanley A. Weigel in the United States District Court for San Francisco, Mel joined the law firm of Simpson Thacher and Bartlett as a litigation associate and became a partner in 1974. Over a 29-year career with Simpson Thacher, he became a member of the firm's Policy Committee and was head of the firm's banking litigation practice, representing clients such as Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company and its successor institutions, Chemical Bank and Chase Manhattan. He was the bank's go-to litigator on its most important matters, including the Hunt family lender-liability litigation and the Best Products case. Mel was an accomplished mergers and acquisitions litigator as well, with leading roles in litigation concerning high-profile merger transactions. He represented Paramount in the famous Paramount-Time Warner case. He also played significant roles in the RJR/Nabisco leveraged-buyout litigation, the fight for Conoco between Seagram and DuPont, the Brascan/Edper creeping tender offer litigation and many others. Mel retired from his law practice in 1997 but continued his involvement in the legal world as a Lecturer in Law at the Columbia University School of Law, until shortly before his death. Mel lived in Greenwich, Connecticut, for most of his adult life and led an active life in his adopted hometown. He loved to play golf, was an avid sports fan, and traveled frequently. He was a passionate cyclist and rode in the 87-mile first leg of the Pan Mass Challenge in 2003. He had a quick and inquisitive mind, and he had a voracious appetite for politics and history. Through a mentoring program in the Greenwich elementary schools, Mel became a mentor to three young boys and remained involved with them, now young men in their early 20s, at the time of his death. Mel is survived by his loving family, including his wife, Kathryn Gabler; his brother, Richard; his sister-in-law, Pamela; three children, Matthew, Douglas and Joanna; his daughter-in-law, Brandy; two grandchildren, Jackson and Dylan; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. He will be deeply missed by all. In addition to a private burial, a memorial service will be held in early June. The family suggests that those who wish to honor Mel's memory in a tangible way consider making a contribution in his name to Turnaround for Children, the Michael J. Fox Foundation or Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.