Panel Attorney Barry Willdorf Passes Away
February 3, 2014
ALRP Panel Attorney Barry S. Willdorf passed away peacefully at his home on February 1, 2014, surrounded by his family, at age 69. The cause was leukemia. He had been treated for 8.5 years at Stanford, where he received two stem cell transplants. He is survived by his wife, Bonnie, of 45-years, three daughters, Megan Willdorf, Nina (Michael) Endelman, and Julia (Nick) Campins, and four grandchildren.
In 2005, ALRP named Barry Attorney of the Year for his groundbreaking work on behalf of the HIV/AIDS community, including the case of Daniels v. CVS.
A life-long activist, Barry was born in New York on March 6, 1945. He grew up in Malden and in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He attended Columbia Law School in New York, where he was an active member of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), an anti-war organization.
Barry opened his law practice in San Francisco in 1971, practicing criminal, and eventually civil law. For many years, he practiced with his longtime legal partner, Laura Stevens. Over the course of several decades, he litigated hundreds of cases, representing employees, actors, artists, victims of investment and real estate fraud, and tenants. Barry often made headlines for the controversial cases he handled, including the wrongful death of a woman on welfare and the swindle of investors in a South African gold mine. In his last case, he and Laura won a multimillion dollar jury verdict against a Bay Area landlord who regularly cheated his tenants out of their security deposits.
ALRP wishes to offer condolences to Barry’s family, friends, and loved ones. As a long term Panel member, the difference Barry has made in the lives of the Bay Area’s most vulnerable communities cannot be measured, and his dedication to defending the rights of our clients is deeply appreciated.
Funeral services at Beth Judea Isreal, 625 Brotherhood Way, San Francisco on Tuesday at 10:00a.m. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Hope Reichbach Fund, hopeforbrooklyn.com.