William J. Doyle

1936 - 2020

Doyle, William J.
Attorney William J. Doyle, former head of the litigation practice at Wiggin and Dana and principal trial lawyer for Yale University for over 25 years, died on April 18, 2020. Bill was born in Boston in 1936, the second of five children of the late Ellen and William I. Doyle. His mother was born in Ireland, as were his father's parents. His family moved to Meriden, Connecticut, when Bill was in grammar school. He attended Meriden High School, where he happily concentrated on his social life, not his studies, and as a result graduated in 1954 near the bottom of his class. In high school, in addition to other jobs, he sang for hire at church weddings and funerals and in a local band. Despite his poor academic performance in high school, Fairfield University, a young school at the time, obviously in need of students, decided to take a chance on him and gave him a glee club scholarship. He was a glee club soloist his four years there. He also sang on weekends with a nightclub band in Waterbury. The Jesuits at Fairfield changed the direction of his life. Under their influence, he became a serious student and leader. He was President of his class as a sophomore, President of the student body as a senior, and graduated with honors in 1958. He then attended St. John's University School of Law as a Thomas More Scholar on a full tuition academic scholarship. He became Managing Editor of the law review, Vice-President of his class, and graduated in 1961 with high honors, ranked second in his class of over 200. He began his legal career at the Manhattan firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. He returned to Connecticut in 1963 to join the 18 lawyer Wiggin and Dana in New Haven. He became a partner in 1969, and three years later, at age 36, head of the firm's litigation practice. Over the next 30 years, he helped the practice grow into a highly respected and successful one, with trials and clients not only in Connecticut but throughout the United States. When he retired in 2005, Wiggin and Dana had grown to 150 lawyers and five offices in three states. His partner Robert F. Cavanagh, the firm's historian, wrote this about Bill in his "History of Wiggin and Dana": "William J. Doyle, an Irish kid who grew up in Meriden, Connecticut…was really the first lawyer hired by Wiggin and Dana without Ivy League or equivalent college and law school degrees. His hiring was one of the wisest and significant decisions ever made at Wiggin and Dana. Doyle was developed into an extraordinarily gifted trial lawyer and brought the firm to a new level of excellence in litigation." At a partner's retreat, the late Jack Dunham, former Chair of the firm, noted Bill's unique contribution to Wiggin and Dana, and especially his contribution to the firm's change from its traditional Ivy League hiring practices: "Bill turned out to be one of the truly great trial lawyers in the United States. Not just really good, but authentically great…If we'd just continued this Ivy League thing…the firm would have become stale and inbred, and it would have become difficult to look past the veneer of fancy schools to be sure that lawyers had the stuff that actually mattered. That is one reason why Bill Doyle is and always will be one of the most important partners in our history, because he cemented Wiggin and Dana's commitment to genuine meritocracy." When Bill retired in 2005, Wiggin and Dana lawyers came from 91 different colleges and 42 different law schools. Bill contributed to that change, and he was proud of it. Bill's specialty was high stakes complex civil litigation, and he was good at it. When other lawyers knew he was on trial, they came to his courtroom to watch and learn. He had a real presence in the courtroom, extraordinary cross-examination skills, and a rare ability to make even the most complicated matters understandable to jurors, who more often than not rewarded him with a favorable verdict. He was well liked and had the admiration and respect of clients, judges, and lawyers. The New Haven County Bar Association honored him with its Lifetime Achievement Award. For more than 20 years, since the inception of the publication until his retirement, he had the distinction of being selected by his peers to be included in each annual edition of "Best Lawyers in America." He was also singled out for inclusion in each edition of the London publication "Chambers USA America's Leading Business Lawyers," which described him as being "much admired" by his clients and other lawyers. He was elected a Fellow of The American College of Trial Lawyers in 1978, the youngest Connecticut lawyer to have received that honor at the time. He later served as state chair of that organization, as well as chair of the Federal Practice Committee and chair of the Lawyer to Lawyer Arbitration Committee of the Connecticut Bar Association. He was appointed by the federal judges in Connecticut to serve as a Special Master and by the Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court to sit as a Special Trial Referee. For many years, he taught a course in Trial Practice at the Yale Law School as a member of the adjunct faculty, after having first started teaching at the University of Connecticut Law School. He also trained and mentored many young lawyers at Wiggin and Dana who went on to become successful trial lawyers at the firm and elsewhere. Even after he retired, Bill returned to the firm to help train its young lawyers. He also returned after retirement to Yale Law School to help train students to compete in national moot court competitions. Bill loved being a trial lawyer, but he also had a full and productive life outside the courtroom. He served as President of the Board of the New Haven Public Library, as a member of the Board of the Childrens' Center in Hamden, as a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Albertus Magnus College, and as President of the Board of the New Haven Lawn Club. Bill was addicted to tennis and spend a lot of time on the court, although truth be told his skill seldom matched his passion for the game. He was unpretentious and fun to be around. He loved a good time, and he enjoyed socializing with a wide and diverse circle of friends representing every walk of life, from judges and lawyers, to professors and deans, to the Lawn Club crowd, to his drinking buddies at the Eel Pot and Dubel's Cafe. He will be missed. Bill was predeceased by his parents, by his first wife Margaret O'Keeffe, their infant daughter Marette, their son Attorney William J. Doyle, Jr. and by his sister Eileen Rosen and her husband John. He is survived by his love Leslie Cummings, his daughter Elizabeth Doyle Lima, and his grandchildren Brendan and Katherine. He is also survived by his sister Margaret McNally, his brother Roger, and his brother John and their children and grandchildren. Due to the Pandemic, a service will be held at a later date. Sisk Brothers Funeral Home, 3105 Whitney Ave., Hamden in care of arrangements. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Albertus Magnus College or to a charity of one's choice. To leave an online condolence, please visit www.siskbrothers.com