Brooks Pierce Icon "Mac" McLendon Dies

Article Date: Tuesday, October 12, 2010

L.P. "Mac" McLendon Jr.

L.P. "Mac" McLendon Jr., senior partner of the Brooks Pierce firm in Greensboro, died last night in Greenville. A memorial service is scheduled Friday, Oct. 15, at 11 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, located at 617 N. Elm St.

McLendon, 89, was the last survivor of the Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard nameplate and remained active in the firm until recent weeks. He was a 1942 graduate of the University of North Carolina and 1948 graduate of the UNC School of Law.  

He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, where he was stationed in England.

 

"Mac was a beloved member of our firm," said fellow partner Reid Phillips, who practiced with McLendon for 33 years. "He taught me how to try lawsuits.

 

"One of his favorite clients was Southern Railway - now Norfolk Southern. They appointed him division counsel in 1980, about three years after I started, and he literally got called upon to try cases for them in all parts of the state, sometimes with lawyers of the community and sometimes not, depending on the case."

 

Through this experience, Phillips continued, he learned firsthand what it was that made McLendon a successful attorney.

 

"I got to travel with him and try cases in places such as Greenville and Asheville. I wanted to learn why he was so successful, so I studied him, and finally decided that it was because he really loved people and was generally curious about them.

 

"On voir dire - selecting a jury - some lawyers would ask questions almost as if they were going down a checklist. But Mac did it because he was really curious about the person. He established a great bond with the jurors. It really was amazing."

 

In addition to his representation of Southern Railway/Norfolk Southern, McLendon was founder and general counsel of Aero, Inc. from 1968-86 and general counsel and legislative counsel of the N.C. Savings & Loan League from 1972-82.

 

He provided volunteer leadership to Appalachian State University, Guilford College, the UNC School of Social Work and the N.C. Children's Home Society, where he served as president.

 

McLendon served three terms in the N.C. Senate and was a member of the Greensboro City Board of Education. He served as president of the Greensboro Bar Association in 1977-78 and as a vice president of the North Carolina Bar Association in 1966-67.