For 41 years, the offer of employment from Pittsburgh law firm K&L Gates hung, framed, on the wall of Judd Poffinberger's office.

He joined the newly formed Kirkpatrick, Pomeroy, Lockhart and Johnson firm, now K&L Gates, in 1948, after completing a Harvard Law School degree in a two-year accelerated program for returning World War II servicemen.

It was a position he was proud of, and he devoted his career to helping build K&L Gates into a global firm.

"The firm today has almost 2,000 lawyers in cities all over the world," said David McClenahan, a friend and current partner at K&L Gates. "Judd was the eighth lawyer."

Mr. Poffinberger, of Oakmont but formerly of Fox Chapel, died Dec. 2 at the age of 90.

For years, Mr. Poffinberger was K&L Gates' main litigation partner, and when Mr. McClenahan joined the firm in 1971, he would carry the older man's bags to court and watch him win cases defending organizations like Pittsburgh Brewing and Campbell's Soup. He was the best trial lawyer Mr. McClenahan had ever seen.

"He was an elegant litigator," he said. "There was no table pounding with Judd Poffinberger. He was extremely prepared and was able to take a very complicated situation and reduce it down to a common denominator that juries and judges and spectators could all understand, and then he could explain the case in a way that reflected favorably on his clients."

Michael McLean, another partner at K&L Gates, agreed that his former mentor was a lawyer who could win cases without resorting to fist-pounding.

"He really represented the best of what a lawyer can be," Mr. McLean said. "He was a consummate professional, a renaissance man in many respects, intelligent and witty, and a sheer delight to be with, both as a partner and a friend."

Judd Nycum Poffinberger Jr. was born June 6, 1919, in Vandergrift, and for the next 59 years was a bachelor, until he met Ann Byrne, a widow with three children.

"He married Mrs. Poffinberger some 30 years ago, and those were probably the happiest years of his life," Mr. McClenahan said.

Outside of his K&L Gates work, Mr. Poffinberger served as president of the Allegheny County Bar Association and on the board of governors of the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Poffinberger's survivors include his stepchildren, Robert Byrne of Ridgefield, Conn., David Byrne of Seattle and Deirdre Byrne of Bangor, Maine, and five grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held Friday at 11 a.m. in Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church on Fox Chapel Road. Donations should be sent to the Allegheny County Bar Association.

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