Lawyer Raymond W. Bergan; Skilled and Persuasive Litigator

Raymond W. Bergan, 77, a partner at Williams & Connolly whose colleagues regarded him as one of the most skilled litigators of his generation, died of stomach cancer May 2 at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington County.

An eloquent extemporaneous speaker, Mr. Bergan was an expert at explaining complex criminal and civil concepts to juries. In cross-examinations, he built his defense like a narrative story and never asked a question unless he already knew its answer. He was so good on his feet and so charming that juries inevitably liked the friendly 6-foot-5 lawyer, though they did not always exonerate his clients.

"Ray had the ability to take facts, based on meticulous preparation, and weave them into a persuasive oral and witness-based presentation, and that's the very definition of a lawyer," said Robert Barnett, a colleague at Williams & Connolly.

"I think if you ask any of the judges he appeared before or any of his clients, they'd tell you he was one of the best trial lawyers and oral advocates they'd ever seen," said Daniel Katz, another Williams & Connolly partner. "Court secretaries told me he was their favorite lawyer because he spoke in such complete, well-rounded sentences and paragraphs that they never had to guess what he meant."

In five decades as a lawyer, Mr. Bergan represented former Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa, Fairfax County politicians in a notorious 1960s bribery case and a major Southeastern auto distributor against two dozen lawsuits from car dealerships. In addition to criminal law, he practiced antitrust, class action, consumer protection and civil rights law.

He succeeded more often than he lost. He also argued more than 50 appeals, including two before the U.S. Supreme Court. He beat government prosecutors time after time when he represented Hoffa and other labor leaders early in his career.

Hoffa "had a charmed life -- he took every shot they could fire at him," he told The Washington Post's Henry Allen in 1992. "It's as if he had kind of a bubble around him. I think he might have started to believe it himself."

Mr. Bergan, a Catholic who graduated from a Jesuit-run high school, college and law school, attended Mass daily.

"I used to tell him it was because of the clients he had," said Colin Brown, president and chief executive of JM Family Enterprises, which owned Southeast Toyota Distributors. After Mr. Bergan learned he had stomach cancer, he responded in kind, telling Brown, "I told you your company was going to give me an ulcer, and that's what you've done."

Brown called the lawyer unflappable and a prodigious worker who would get up at 4 a.m. to prepare closing arguments after weeks at trial.

"He was the most honorable person I ever dealt with. He never lowered his standards, no matter what kind of circumstances we were in," Brown said.

Raymond Ward Bergan was born in Pittsburgh and grew up in Scarsdale, N.Y. He graduated from Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mass., and received a law degree from Georgetown University in 1954. After three years in the Army, based in Texas and Washington, he settled in Arlington and joined Edward Bennett Williams's law firm, which later became Williams & Connolly.

He was considered a mentor to many colleagues at his law firm.

"We have a lot of very accomplished trial lawyers [at the firm], and Ray Bergan was the most phenomenal mentor. . . . He took the time to teach me and other young lawyers how to deal with clients, try cases and analyze complex legal issues," Katz said. "I made it a point to get the newest lawyers to work with him."

A fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers since 1974, Mr. Bergan retired in 1996. He was a past board member at Marymount University in Arlington, the Opera Theatre of Northern Virginia and the Cripple Creek Golf and Country Club in Bethany Beach, Del.

A member of St. John the Beloved Catholic Church in McLean since 1964, he was a past social coordinator for the seniors there.

He enjoyed reading, movies and traveling to Florida in winter.

Survivors include his wife of 51 years, Mary Elizabeth Bergan of McLean; four children, Patricia Cary of Falls Church, Ann Behan of Newark, Del., Elizabeth Ruppert of Satellite Beach, Fla., and James Bergan of Falls Church; a brother; and six grandchildren.