Jack Martzell, 70, high-profile attorney

John R. "Jack" Martzell, a trial lawyer known for his trademark black cowboy hat and skill in representing high-profile clients, was found dead at his New Orleans home early Wednesday. He was 70.

The cause of his death has not been announced.

Among his more notable clients were Muhammad Ali; former U.S. Rep. Rick Tonry of Chalmette; fried-chicken magnate Al Copeland; Glenn Haydel, the uncle of former Mayor Marc Morial; and, most recently, ousted Civil District Judge C. Hunter King.

Mr. Martzell, who headed up the firm Martzell & Bickford, also won a significant victory in getting a federal appeals court to overturn the 1981 Brilab conviction of Charles Roemer, who had been Gov. Edwin Edwards' commissioner of administration.

"He was a superb lawyer and even more, a superb, principled human being," said U.S. District Court Chief Justice Ginger Berrigan. She called his death "a tremendous loss to the legal community and a great loss to the city."

Born and raised in Shreveport, Mr. Martzell attended the University of Notre Dame, where he earned a bachelor's degree in accounting and paid his way through Notre Dame's law school by teaching speech and debate to engineering students.

After getting his law degree in 1961, Mr. Martzell worked as a law clerk for U.S. Court of Appeals Judge J. Skelly Wright of the Washington, D.C., circuit, who was unpopular in New Orleans because of his decisions ordering racial desegregation of schools and public accommodations.

Mr. Martzell also clerked for U.S. District Judge Frank Ellis, who recommended him for the job of special counsel for the city of Bogalusa during a period when the civil-rights movement was heating up. Mr. Martzell helped Bogalusa officials negotiate with civil rights organizations to get rid of laws with racial references.

According to a magazine profile, Mr. Martzell's activities on behalf of desegregation resulted in two threats on his life from the Ku Klux Klan.

Despite the roster of famous people whom he had defended, Mr. Martzell said in a magazine interview that most of his clients were middle-class men and women involved in personal-injury, class-action and product-liability suits.

Mr. Martzell, who was active in state and national lawyers' organizations, received the Louisiana State Bar Association and Louisiana State Bar Foundation Boisfontaine Award for litigation and ethics.

"He lived and breathed the law. It was a mission; he was on a crusade," said fellow lawyer Arthur "Buddy" Lemann, who called Mr. Martzell "the dean of the local criminal-defense bar."

Mr. Martzell died on the day that Tiffany Gautier Chase, one of his protégés, was sworn in as a judge of Civil District Court. He had helped lead her successful campaign.

When she got the news, Chase said she was tempted to postpone the ceremony until Scott Bickford, a partner in Martzell & Bickford, told her to go on with it because, she said, it was what Mr. Martzell would have wanted.

"He was elegant," Chase said. "He had integrity. . . . I am honored to have worked for Jack. He taught me so much."

Mr. Martzell is survived by four sons, Justin Caverlee Martzell and Andrew Hillman Martzell, both of New Orleans, Benjamin Porteous Martzell of Houston and Jared Douglas Martzell of Chicago; a daughter, Christiane Seaton Martzell of Slidell; two sisters, Jeanne Meinert of New Orleans and Mary Kay Viramontez of Ventura, Calif.; and his grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements for Mr. Martzell were incomplete Wednesday.

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Susan Finch can be reached at sfinch@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3340.

John R. "Jack" Martzell