Obituary: Lee J. Dunn, Jr.
On October 14, at age 70, Lee J. Dunn, Jr., succumbed to a virulent form of liver cancer.
Mr. Dunn grew up in Dorchester. For a generation his father served as an admired member of the faculty and as the college placement officer at Boston Latin School. Mr. Dunn achieved his diploma from that school, a bachelor's degree from Columbia College, a law degree from Western Reserve University, and a graduate law degree from Harvard Law School.
He practiced law for more than 40 years and specialized in the law of medicine. As a young attorney, he served as general counsel to the Kansas University Medical Center and then as general counsel to the Northwestern University Medical Center in Chicago. He returned to Boston to engage in private practice, first with the national firm of McDermott, Will & Emery, and then the Boston firm of Powers and Hall. In 1990 he founded his own firm and maintained an active practice until 2010.
He concentrated in the subjects of medical malpractice litigation, especially matters of neonatology and the representation of physicians in the Massachusetts Board of Registration. In the 1980s and 1990s, through decisions by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, he established several major precedents supporting the rights of doctors confronting action against their licensure by the Board of Registration.
Mr. Dunn's lifelong avocation was service to his schools. He remained an active member of the Boston Latin School's Alumni/Alumnae Association for more than 40 years, through multiple terms on its board of trustees and a term as its president. He helped establish the organization's regular bulletin publication and to expand its fiscal strength and services. He served unfailingly on his class's reunion committees. He remained active also in the graduate organizations of Columbia College, Western Reserve Law School, and Harvard Law School. During the 1990s he served as a house officer of the Harvard club of Boston.
For the last 30 years he resided in Concord. His general health began to decline in 2012.
He is survived by his sister, Elizabeth, of Salem, Massachusetts.
Visiting hours at the Lawler & Crosby Funeral Home, 1803 Centre Street, West Roxbury, will come on Friday, October 18, from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. A procession from the funeral home to the family plot in Saint Joseph's Cemetery, West Roxbury, will follow at 10 a.m., Saturday, October 19.
In lieu of flowers, friends may forward contributions in Lee's memory to the Boston Latin School Association, 27 School Street, Boston, MA 02108. www.lawlerfuneralhome.com
Lawler and Crosby Funeral Home
617-323-5600