In a community where law firms seem to split up as often as celebrity marriages, Salt Lake's Fabian & Clendenin stands out.
This year, Fabian & Clendenin marks its 75th anniversary. So-named by founders Harold P. Fabian and Beverly S. Clendenin, the firm has evolved from a two-man general practice to a firm of 38 attorneys who work in areas of law not even contemplated when the firm opened in 1919.Fabian and Clendenin met while stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash., during World War I. After the war, they opened a practice on April 1, 1919.
In the early 1920s, they joined with Emmett M. Bagley and Robert Judd. But the professional relationship dissolved in 1923 over Fabian's "courtship" of his secretary, Josephine Cunningham, according to a book on the firm's history. Fabian and Cunningham were later married.
Three years later, Fabian & Clendenin was re-established in an office at the Walker Bank Building. It was there the firm became acquainted with oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller.
Horace Albright, then-superintendent of Yellowstone National Park, persuaded Rockefeller he should buy land in the Jackson Hole area to give to the U.S. government to create Teton National Park and protect the surrounding area.
Albright and Clendenin had been college classmates at the University of California. At Albright's suggestion, Rockefeller's New York attorneys hired Fabian & Clendenin.
The firm formed a Utah corporation named the Snake River Land Co., a vehicle to acquire the land. Fabian was named vice president and Cunningham as secretary/treasurer.
Rockefeller's intent was to quietly acquire the land to prevent its price from escalating."It did after the word got out," said Peter Billings Sr., of counsel with Fabian & Clendenin.
The acquisition became a political football in Wyoming because some of the land was federal land open to public entry, and other property was owned by the state of Wyoming as school sections under federal law. Fabian finessed the deal and the land eventually became the national park. By 1933, the Rockefellers had spent $1.5 million in the land acquisition. Seventeen years later, the family donated most of the land it had acquired to the U.S. government. The Rockefellers retained the remainder, including a cabin near Lake Jenny, which the family permitted Fabian and Cunningham to use.
Cunningham used wooden clothespins as place cards for their cabin guests, who included Republican Presidents Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover. After the parties, Cunningham would use the clothespins to hang clothes on the clothesline. "It was just fun using the clothesline to look at the people's names," said Peter Billings Sr.
Billings describes Fabian and Clendenin as "gentlemen in the very best sense of the word. Fabian was away a lot on the Jackson Hole business. Clendenin really ran the office. Until he retired, he ran the show. He was a real scholar," Billings said.
Fabian and Clendenin were staunch Republicans, with Fabian serving on the National Republican Committee during the Hoover administration. Peter Billings Sr. jokes: "I think the first Democrat we had was D. Howe Moffat," father of 3rd District Judge Richard Moffat.
The firm's current president is Peter Billings Jr., the former Utah Democratic Party Chairman.
Peter Billings Sr. has been associated with the firm for nearly 50 years. The practice of law has changed dramatically since the elder Billings joined Fabian & Clendenin in 1946.
"When I came back after World War II, I knew all the lawyers. There were probably 50 lawyers in Salt Lake then, and I think most of them were in the Continental Bank Building," he said.
Early in Peter Billings Sr.'s career, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals had no Utah office. So attorneys had to travel by train to Denver to file court documents. Opposing counsel often traveled together on the train, socialized in the evenings and traveled home the next day.
"There was a much more gentlemanly feel, no question about it," Peter Billings Sr. said.
That same feeling pervades Utah's bankruptcy practice today, Peter Billings Jr. said. "Most people treat each other with respect and recognize when you have a weak point and compromise,' he said. Peter Billings Jr. said he does not see the same courtesy with out-of-state counsel. "They range from being rude and obnoxious to close to being unethical."
The firm's beginnings were in banking law, but by the mid-80s, a large part of the practice was devoted to bankruptcy cases. Peter Billings Jr. said the change came in part because of the amended 1978 Bankruptcy Code.
"Before, all you did was liquidate. Now you reorganize," he said.
Fabian & Clendenin's foray in bankruptcy proceedings came when a client, Terracor, filed for bankruptcy protection. Peter Billings Jr. brought in bankruptcy attorney Glen Clark to guide him, but Clark was appointed a judge in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court midway through the case.
"When I went to law school, no one took bankrupcty. It was a little course," said Peter Billings Jr. "Next thing you know, I'm supposed to show up in court Monday morning. I knew where the court was and that was about it."
The firm now has a bankruptcy team of six attorneys.
Seemingly in keeping with Fabian's conservation interests, the firm has a well-respectd cadre of natural resources attorneys. In addition to his work for the Rockefellers, Fabian was the first head of the Utah Parks Commission. He proposed converting the site of the former state prison into Sugarhouse Park. Then LDS Church President David O. McKay sought Fabian's advice in the restoration of Nauvoo.
Today's environmental issues would not have been contemplated by the likes of Fabian - matters such as oil shale development, Super Fund sites and mining reclamation.
"I think we probably represent both sides of the fence. We do a lot of pro bono work," said Denise Dragoo, who heads the firm's transaction section.
The firm's commitment to public service is evident in its pro bono policy. While the American Bar Association encourages performing 50 hours of pro bono work annually, it is a requirement at Fabian & Clendenin. Otherwise, attorneys are not eligible for a bonus.
Fabian & Clendenin attorney Cullen Battle, for instance, managed a lawsuit in cooperation with the American Civil Liberties Union to force the Utah Department of Corrections to provide adequate health care to prison inmates.
Battle worked on the case more than four years, far exceeding the firm's 50-hour requirement. The ACLU prevailed in the action.
"Most people greatly exceed it. It shows where our values are," Peter Billings Jr. said.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Fabian & Clendenin legal highlights
1919 - Firm is founded by Harold Fabian and Beverly Clendenin after becoming friends while stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash., during World War I.
1926 - The firm is hired by John D. Rockefeller and then-superintendent of Yellowstone National Park Horace Albright to assist in acquisition of land for Teton National Park.
1927 - Fabian helps found Western Airlines. He also greets Charles Lindbergh after the first-ever Transatlantic flight.
1929 - Firm moves into the Continental Bank Building after the firm resolves a boundary dispute for the bank. The bank becomes a major client.
1946 - Peter Billings Sr. joins the firm.
1952 - Sandford Stoddard joins the firm at its first tax lawyer for the Rosenblatt family. He was the original collector of the firm's collection of Utah art. Albert J. Colton joins the firm as a litigator. Ten years later, he leaves the firm to become an Episcopal priest. After serving as rector of a small church in San Francisco, he returns to the law firm but retains his clerical role.
1958 - Firm name is changed to Fabian, Clendenin, Mabey, Billings & Stoddard. Four years later, the firm name is restored to Fabian & Clendenin.
1962 - The firm becomes involved in the landmark Utah Pie Co. case that is argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. Utah Pie, a local concern, files suit against Continental Baking Co., Pet Milk and Carnation alleging price fixing and territorial price discrimination in the sale of frozen pies. Peter Billings Sr. represented Carnation Co., and Utah Pie Co. was represented by Joseph Alioto, a noted antitrust lawyer who later became mayor of San Francisco. The Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling on the case and the case was eventually sent back for new trial on damage issues. The case was settled for a nominal amount. Utah Pie Co. went bankrupt in 1972 and Carnation sold its pie business in 1967.
1960s-70s - Firm earns reputation for antitrust expertise and retains clients such as Ford Motor Co., General Motors, Chrysler, General Electric, Heinz, Carnation, Goodyear Rubber, Syntex, Olympia Brewing, Taco Time and Admiral Television.
1971 - Beverly Clendenin dies.
1975 - Harold Fabian dies.
1979 - Al Colton represents then-Davis County director of libraries Jean Layton, who was fired after she kept a novel titled "Americana" on county library shelves after a county commissioner who deemed the book "obscene" requested she remove it from county library shelves. She was reinstated with back pay and Davis County was ordered to pay attorneys fees.
1980s-90s - Bankruptcy becomes productive field of practice, starting with the Terracor case handled by Peter Billings Jr.
1984 - Fabian & Clendenin moves to present quarters at 215 S. State after Continental Bank is sold.
1990 - Cullen Battle, working as a cooperating attorney for the ACLU, files suit against the Utah Department of Corrections on behalf of inmates who claim prison health care is substandard. The department is ordered to provide adequate health care to inmates and pay substantial attorneys fees.
1990s - Firm moves to greater utilization of mediation in dispute resolution.