Photo by Robert Chase
Prominent attorney earned respect that was ‘unmatched’
By Tom Kirvan
Legal News
He was known by many as a “lawyer’s lawyer.”
Others labeled him a “gentleman’s gentleman.”
A longtime legal partner said he was “our firm’s moral compass.”
And yet, it was for a son to perhaps offer the most definitive and lasting legacy for attorney Tom Plunkett, whose life was cut short October 22 at age 78 after an 18-month battle with esophageal cancer.
“I always knew my dad was a well respected, accomplished lawyer, but it wasn’t until I returned home in 2004 to practice with him that I realized the depth of respect and admiration that he enjoyed from members of the bar,” said David Plunkett, like his father a partner in the Birmingham firm of Williams Williams Rattner & Plunkett. “I can’t count the number of times lawyers, judges and clients have gone out of their way to tell me that my dad was the most decent and honorable lawyer and person they ever encountered, that they sought his advice on the most difficult of issues and that he had helped guide them various ways.
“On my first motion in a Michigan court, the judge asked if I was related to Tom Plunkett. When I told him I was his son, the judge told a crowded courtroom on motion day that all the lawyers present should wish they were half the lawyer and gentleman that my dad is. He then summarily denied my motion. So much for reflected glory.”
Now, years later but just a day after the loss of his father, David Plunkett has come to fully appreciate the true scope of his lifetime role model.
“The best part is that he was an even better husband, father and grandfather,” Plunkett said. “I will miss him every day, as will our firm, the legal community, and the many others he touched in profound and simple ways.”
A past president of the Oakland County Bar Association, Tom Plunkett grew up in northern Kentucky, the oldest of three children. His father, Tom, was an office administrator for C & O Railroad, while his mother, Lorraine, was a housewife dedicated to raising the couple’s three children. His parents met in a Catholic orphanage where Plunkett’s mother lived following the death of her parents during the Great Depression.
While a student at Thomas More College, a small liberal arts school near Cincinnati, Plunkett met his wife, Ann, a member of the drama club there.
“She played Dolly Levi (in ‘Hello, Dolly!’), while I was a stage hand, obviously without any musical or acting talent,” Plunkett said with a laugh during a 2009 interview with The Legal News. “She graduated a year after me and eventually earned a master’s at U-M, later completing her coursework for a doctorate in English.”
The couple was married in 1964 after Ann spent two years teaching literature at a high school academy in Cincinnati. Their first son, Chris, was born in 1967 and now lives in Chattanooga, Tenn., where he works for a software company. He graduated from Yale University, playing lacrosse and football for the Ivy League school. He has two children, Olivia and Matthew.
Their younger son, David, spent the first nine years of his legal career in Chicago and Washington, D.C. before joining the Birmingham law firm that bears his father’s name as a partner. He earned his bachelor and law degrees from the University of Michigan, and, like his brother, was a star athlete at Birmingham Brother Rice High School. He and his wife, Patricia, have two children, Nicholas and Elizabeth.
Following his college graduation, Tom Plunkett was awarded a coveted scholarship to attend University of Detroit School of Law in 1960. He became an editor of the Law Journal there, earning a prized clerkship with Michigan Supreme Court Justice Thomas M. Kavanagh after graduation.
Upon joining the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office two years later, Plunkett continued his rapid rise, becoming Chief Assistant Prosecutor at the tender age of 26. In 1968, Plunkett was the choice of voters for the top post, at the time reportedly becoming the youngest elected prosecuting attorney in a major metropolitan area in the U.S.
Some two decades later, Plunkett was invited to join the Birmingham firm of Williams Schaefer Ruby & Williams. It proved to be a game-changer for the firm, according to Rick Williams, managing partner of what is now Williams Williams Rattner & Plunkett.
“I know how the Houston Astros must have felt when Justin Verlander joined their pitching staff; that was the same feeling we had when Tom joined our firm on June 1, 1987 – we landed a superstar!” Williams proclaimed. “Tom was already distinguished, had a devoted following as well as the gravitas the rest of us were still seeking.
“For the next 30 years, we had the good fortune of working shoulder to shoulder with a man whose talents as an attorney were only exceeded by the depth of his character. While Tom fought many battles for the many clients who had the privilege of having him as their attorney, I never heard him utter a single curse nor say a bad word about his opponents. He respected the views of others, was generous with his time, not only with clients, but with our young lawyers and those organizations he supported. He was our firm’s ethical compass; we sought and heeded his counsel whenever conflicts or issues of conduct or fairness arose. His respect among his peers, the bench, and the community at large is unmatched.”
Such admiration grew even more in Plunkett’s waning days, said Williams.
“As Tom struggled with cancer and the side effects of chemo, he kept one thing in mind: the welfare of his clients,” Williams said. “He literally worked for others until two days before his death. I can’t tell you how much he will be missed.”
Considered in some quarters as the “Dean” of the State Bar of Michigan for his 18 years of service on the board, Plunkett also had a distinguished history of service with the OCBA, serving as president in 1989-90 and as a board member from 1981-90. In 2006, Plunkett was the recipient of the Roberts P. Hudson Award from the State Bar, the highest honor conferred by the organization.
The award “signifies unusual and extraordinary help and assistance to the Bar and the legal profession, which has been given generously, ungrudgingly, and in a spirit of self-sacrifice,” according to a statement from the State Bar.
Tom Ryan, a past president of the State Bar, was among Plunkett’s closest friends and greatest admirers.
“Those of us who knew and loved Tom are still in a state of shock as to the rapidness of his passing,” said Ryan. “He fought a good fight always against his cancer and was, until recently, confident and optimistic that his medical team and his faith would help him prevail.
“Tom has always been a fighter in the most appropriate sense of the word in that he focused on the positive aspects of his position and life,” Ryan noted. “He did not denigrate those who did not agree with him. Tom was the quintessential Irishman, known to have a liquid refreshment from time to time, with a classic deadpan humor that could lighten up any room or social situation.”
In addition, Ryan said that Plunkett’s influence extended far beyond the professional sphere.
“Tom was a man of great faith, who loved his family, country and profession, became a successful attorney but more importantly a successful person, by his sheer intellect, his hard work and unblemished character,” said Ryan. “He will be sorely missed by his beloved family, friends and colleagues. The legal community has lost a giant who was able to effectively serve his clients in the profession with dignity and professionalism.
“His suffering is now over and we are thankful for that and the hopes that his spiritual life which he lived here on earth will reward him in heaven. Our world has been diminished by his passing, but our memories will hopefully sustain us as we go forward and in support of Ann, Chris, and David and their families.”
The remarks were echoed by U.S. District Judge David Lawson, a longtime friend of Plunkett’s.
“I never met any person – especially a lawyer – who didn’t like Tom Plunkett,” Judge Lawson said. “He never spoke ill of anyone. He was a talented and effective lawyer, and he treated everyone with respect – even some who might not deserve it. Tom respected the dignity of every person in all stations of life. He was honest. His integrity was a model for all lawyers, young and old. And he was very good company, and a true friend.
“To say that his passing is a loss is just not adequate,” Lawson added. “He is an irreplaceable member of our legal community, which has been diminished.”
Along with his career success, Plunkett had an impressive record of volunteerism, serving on the board of Cranbrook, the Ferndale Board of Education, the Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Oakland County, and the Oakland County Chamber of Commerce.
His reputation as public servant was held in particularly high regard by former Michigan Governor James Blanchard, who when in office asked Plunkett to investigate a massive cost overrun with a new computer system for the Michigan Employment Security Commission (MESC). An estimated $18 million project somehow ballooned to $81 million, prompting then Governor Blanchard to ask Plunkett to find out why.
“Governor Blanchard said he wouldn’t accept an explanation that those in charge were dyslexic,” Plunkett quipped years later when recalling the assignment.
Such wit was a Plunkett trademark, according to Mike Sullivan, a past president of the OCBA.
“Tom Plunkett was a lawyer’s lawyer and a gentleman’s gentleman,” said Sullivan, an attorney with Collins Einhorn. “He was also one of the great historians of Oakland county legal folklore. He lived much of it and was witness to the rest of it. Few legal careers can match his. And he did it all with grace, honor, and good humor.”
The Funeral Mass for Plunkett will take place on Thursday, Oct. 26 at 11 a.m. at St. Hugo of the Hills Church, 2215 Opdyke Road, Bloomfield Hills. Visitation at the church begins at 10 a.m.
His family will receive friends on Wednesday from 2-8 p.m. at A.J. Desmond & Sons Funeral Home, 2600 Crooks Road in Troy. Memorial contributions may be made to the Oakland County Bar Foundation or to Brother Rice High School.
In addition to his wife, sons, and grandchildren, he is survived by a brother, Robert and his wife Charlene, and his sister, Patricia.
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