James William Newbold III (Bill), born on March 1st, 1942 (a day he always referred to as "the first day of spring"), passed away peacefully on May 31st, 2024, in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.
From an early age, Bill excelled at academics and athletics. Quarterback of his high school football team, he attended Millikin University, later transferring to the University of Missouri, where he was elected president of his fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon. He was also quite proud to have been a member of the only Missouri rugby team to ever beat perennial powerhouse Harvard. It was at Mizzou that Bill met the love of his life, Carol, when they were both students. They married three days after Carol's graduation in 1966 while Bill was a law student. He then earned his law degree at Mizzou, graduating in 1967.
Following his graduation from law school, Bill and Carol moved to St. Louis, where Bill began a long and rewarding career as an attorney specializing in business and tort litigation. After several years in Clayton at the law firm Ziercher & Hocker, in 1979 Bill joined Coburn & Croft, later known as Thompson Coburn, in downtown St. Louis. Bill gained national recognition defending clients including Monsanto and Lorillard Tobacco in mass tort litigation. From February 1984 to October 1987, Bill defended Monsanto in a three year, landmark trial which was later cited in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest jury trial in US history. Bill was elected a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers before retiring from the practice of law in 2005.
In addition to his professional life, Bill was an active volunteer and greatly enjoyed giving time to his community. He served on the Board of Aldermen in Clayton, Missouri, and was a senior warden at the Church of St. Michael and St. George. Later in life, he found a true passion tutoring English as a second language at The Beacon of Hope, a non-profit community organization, on Pine Island, Florida.
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Newbold, James | Tn Exchange | newspressnow.com
