[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"BlogPosting","datePublished":"2011-08-20","dateModified":"2024-05-03","wordCount":785,"url":"https:\/\/www.lawtoncates.com\/blog\/prominent-trial-lawyer-cates-47-dies-in-home\/","name":"Prominent Trial Lawyer Cates \u201947 Dies in Home","headline":"Prominent Trial Lawyer Cates \u201947 Dies in Home","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.lawtoncates.com\/blog\/prominent-trial-lawyer-cates-47-dies-in-home\/","articleBody":"Richard Cates \u201947, a trial lawyer who was instrumental in the Watergate inquiry that led to former President Richard Nixon\u2019s resignation, died Wednesday at age 85. Cates died of natural causes in his home in Madison, Wis.\u201cHe was probably the most magnificent trial lawyer, at least in the state of Wisconsin, during the time that he was practicing law,\u201d Bruce Davey, a partner at LawtonCates, Cate\u2019s law firm, said. \u201cHe was very, very highly regarded \u2014 in fact, revered \u2014 by most lawyers and judges in this state.\u201dIn November 1973, Cates joined a team of lawyers charged with examining the host of White House scandals that later became known as Watergate at the request of United States House Judiciary Committee Chairman Peter Rodino, D-N.J., according to The Cap Times. At the time, Cates worked closely with recent Yale Law School alumna Hillary Rodham, now U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.\u201cHad not Nixon resigned, [Cates] would have been the trial lawyer who tried him on the floor of the Senate,\u201d attorney Scott Hassett, a partner at LawtonCates, said. \u201cThen he would have been world-famous.\u201dCates separated evidence from its chronological setting and created a concise theory for Nixon\u2019s involvement in the Watergate cover-up, historian Stanley Kutler told The Cap Times.Cates\u2019s son, Richard Cates Jr. \u201974, said his father was a \u201ccaring and endearing\u201d individual who saw the best in people.\u201cHe appreciated almost everybody for something they had to offer the world,\u201d Richard Cates, Jr. said. \u201cIt was that ability to seize the beauty of living that I think was a major accomplishment for him. Through his life, he shared that with everybody he met. He was never on time for a meeting, and the reason was that everybody he met wanted a piece of him.\u201dCates was motivated to help those who were \u201cdown and out\u201d and believed that the law is \u201cthe vehicle to our freedom,\u201d according to his son.\u201cIt had to do with serving a need that he recognized our founding founders developed and the Constitution provided for,\u201d he said.Novelist David Cates, said that his father sought to represent those who were marginalized.\u201cHe wasn\u2019t at all interested in personal accomplishment,\u201d David Cates said. \u201cHe was interested in making the world better, in using the law to keep the powerful from squashing the weak.\u201dCates enjoyed \u201csimple living\u201d and found humor in everyday situations, David Cates said.\u201cLife was not full of hassles for Dad,\u201d David Cates said. \u201cLife was full of opportunities to get a laugh.\u201dCates encouraged his children to take risks and feared the idea of missing out on an adventure, David Cates said.Richard Cates, Jr., who was a member of the ski team at the College, said his father encouraged him to ski at an early age.\u201cWhen I was three years old, he put me on a pair of skis and let me ski down the golf course, and then he\u2019d go down to the bottom and put me on his shoulders and carry me up the hill,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I did with my son [Eric Cates \u201908]. I\u2019d carry him up, and he ended up skiing for Dartmouth. And I say it all started because my dad slapped an old pair of skis on me and pushed me down the hill.\u201dCates also took his four sons on 270-mile bike rides on three-speed bicycles to their cottage in northern Wisconsin when they were in their mid-teens, Richard Cates, Jr. said.Cates\u2019s other interests included agriculture, but he was unsuccessful in his attempts to farm, Davey said.\u201cNo matter what he did farming, he didn\u2019t get it right,\u201d Davey said. \u201cHe had a one-row corn picker. Who ever would have thought that anyone would have made one? His cattle were always getting out and wandering all over the countryside.\u201dCates was greatly amused by his failed farming attempts, Davey said.\u201cThe farmers loved him because he sure as hell tried to get it right,\u201d he said.During World War II, Cates received officers training in the Marine Corps, but the war ended before he was deployed, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. After graduating from Dartmouth, Cates served in the Marines for a second time during the Korean War.Cates treasured his time at Dartmouth and returned to the College for many reunions after he graduated, Richard Cates, Jr. said.\u201cIt was a very important period in his life because World War II was over and he could return to being a citizen,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd he could do that at Dartmouth.\u201dCates is survived by his wife, five children, 17 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.","description":"Richard Cates \u201947, a trial lawyer who was instrumental in the Watergate inquiry that led to former President Richard Nixon\u2019s resignation, died Wednesday at age 85. Cates died of natural causes in his home in Madison, Wis. \u201cHe was probably the most magnificent trial lawyer, at least in the state of Wisconsin, during the time that he was practicing law,\u201d Bruce Davey, a partner at LawtonCates, Cate\u2019s law firm, said. \u201cHe was very, very highly regarded \u2014 in fact, revered \u2014 by most lawyers and judges in this state.\u201d In November 1973, Cates joined a team of lawyers charged with [\u2026]","about":"Dick Cates","author":{"@type":"Person","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2f34718d3c46ee2833d3ccf83f7221a0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96,"@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2f34718d3c46ee2833d3ccf83f7221a0?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"url":"https:\/\/www.lawtoncates.com\/blog\/author\/lawtoncates\/","name":"LawtonCates","identifier":7,"@id":"https:\/\/www.lawtoncates.com\/blog\/author\/lawtoncates\/#Person"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.lawtoncates.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/lawton-cates-attorneys.jpg","height":550,"width":694,"@id":"https:\/\/www.lawtoncates.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/lawton-cates-attorneys.jpg"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.lawtoncates.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/lawtoncates-logo.png","height":73,"width":438,"@id":"https:\/\/www.lawtoncates.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/lawtoncates-logo.png"},"name":"LawtonCates, S.C.","@id":"https:\/\/www.lawtoncates.com\/blog\/prominent-trial-lawyer-cates-47-dies-in-home\/#Organization1"},"@id":"https:\/\/www.lawtoncates.com\/blog\/prominent-trial-lawyer-cates-47-dies-in-home\/#BlogPosting"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.lawtoncates.com\/blog\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Prominent Trial Lawyer Cates \u201947 Dies in Home","item":"https:\/\/www.lawtoncates.com\/blog\/prominent-trial-lawyer-cates-47-dies-in-home\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]