James J. Duryea

James J. Duryea The renowned California trial attorney, who set legal precedents in multiple cases argued in front of the California Supreme Court, has died of complications from a five-year struggle with Alzheimer's disease. Widely considered among the elite trial attorneys of his generation that included peers like Melvin Belli, Joseph Alioto, James McManus, and Bruce Walkup, Duryea practiced law over four decades. Over those years Duryea, who specialized in personal injury, tried over 700 jury trial cases with a record of success that earned him the accolades from clients and often, begrudgingly, high respect from opposing counsel. When he retired in the 1990s, Duryea had tried more cases, in more California counties than any other attorney. After finishing law school in 1949, Duryea went to work for the law firm of Remington Low, where he eventually became a partner in what then became Low & Duryea, and then later Low, Duryea & Ball. In 1955 with two young children and a third one on the way, and against the sage advice of his wife Dorothy, Duryea, eminently confident, took a risk and went out on his own to start his own firm, the Law Offices of James J. Duryea, located in the Mills Tower building in San Francisco. At its height the Law Offices of James J. Duryea had 40 attorneys in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Sacramento. Considered one of the great teachers of his profession, Duryea trained literally hundreds of lawyers, both in his own practice, as well as in his role as law professor at Golden Gate College in the '50s and '60s. Some of his more notable clients included State Farm Insurance, Lockheed, Harbor Insurance, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Santa Cruz Boardwalk, Thrifty Stores, Vons Stores, Payless, as well as many county governments in CA. A deeply intellectual mind, forever curious, he was always keenly aware of the latest pursuits, challenges and triumphs of his family and friends. Formidable to some, he was known to those closest to him as a man of unbounded confidence matched only by the love of his family and closest friends. A fair-minded individual who demanded excellence of himself and others, Duryea was an early sponsor of merit-based equal opportunity in business and society as an early hirer of women attorneys and as the first person in the early '60s to sponsor a person of color for membership in the Olympic Club. A fourth-generation Californian, Duryea was born and reared in San Francisco, where he attended St. Anne of the Sunset Grammar School; St. Ignatius High School (Class of 1940); the University of California, Berkeley (Class of 1946), College of the Pacific (Class of 1946), and the University of San Francisco School of Law (Class of 1949). Duryea also attended CCSF, where he met his future wife and the mother of his five children, Dorothy Dean. Following CCSF he attended University of Oregon on a track scholarship in the javelin, where he eventually became the third ranked thrower in the US. In 1942 following the outbreak of World War II, Duryea entered the Marine Corps Officer Training Program. Eventually earning the rank of captain, Duryea fought in the Asian Theater in Guam. Duryea was preceded in death by his parents, Julia (1968) and Jack (1969) Duryea; former wife, Dorothy Dean Duryea (1981); son, James Duryea Jr. (1994); sisters, Mary Alice Gilmore (1980) and Patricia Boone (1999). Duryea is survived by the pride of his life, his loving children: Dean Duryea (Libby) of Moraga; Susan Duryea of St. Helena; Thomas Duryea (Lisa) of Kenwood; and Carolyn Smith (Jeff) of St. Helena. He is also survived by his adoring grandchildren, James Duryea III of San Francisco, Kathryn Duryea of Stanford and George Duryea of Washington DC; Dean Duryea Jr. of Chicago, IL, and Julia Duryea of Boulder, CO; Jack Duryea and Liam Duryea of Kenwood; and Isabelle Smith and Holland Smith of St. Helena. Duryea also is also survived by his former wife, and much loved family member, Joan Shaw Shalley of Atherton, CA. Also survived by trusted longtime business associate and longtime friend of 49 years, Lorraine Vidal. The Funeral Mass will be celebrated Wednesday, September 19, 2007 at 10:00 am at St. Ignatius Church, Fulton St. and Parker Ave., SF. Interment private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Alzheimer's Research, UCSF Box 1207, 350 Parnassus Ave, Ste 706, SF CA. McAvoy-O'Hara Co. (415) 668-0077