C. Arthur Wilson, a distinguished lawyer who handled civil cases ranging from the Pittsburgh Pirates' suit against Dave Parker to product-liability defense for Bayer AG, died Monday at home in Mt. Lebanon.

He was 75 and had been suffering from esophageal cancer that spread to his brain and liver.

Mr. Wilson spent his entire career as a commercial litigator at Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, having joined the firm in 1962.

He was instrumental in expanding it from 17 lawyers in one office to more than 330 lawyers in 11 offices today. During a 47-year career, he represented many of the firm's major clients, including Mobay (now Bayer), Westinghouse, 3M and Alcoa.

In recent years he traveled the country helping to defend Bayer against suits involving phenylpropanolamine, an ingredient formerly in its Alka-Seltzer Plus and other cold medicines sold by various companies.

Bayer and other corporations stopped marketing products with PPA after the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning in 2000 following a Yale University study showing an increased risk of bleeding in the brain among women who took the medications.

The lawsuits claimed that Bayer had known about the potential health risks of PPA since the early 1980s and didn't warn consumers.

Mr. Wilson, a former member of the Allegheny County Bar Association Professional Ethics and Judicial Committee, was known as an intelligent litigator with high standards who served as a mentor to many of Eckert Seamans' young lawyers. His cases, particularly for Bayer, required him to understand the chemistry of the company's products.

"He was absolutely brilliant," said Tim Ryan, chief executive officer at Eckert Seamans. "He was an excellent strategist. You're talking about some of the most complex cases."

In an earlier phase of his career, he served as a legal adviser to the Pirates and was active in arbitration issues for several major league teams. He also represented the Pirates in the club's suit against slugger Dave Parker during baseball's cocaine scandal of the 1980s.

Mr. Parker left the team in 1983, but in 1986 the Pirates sued him, demanding that the courts nullify deferred compensation benefits owed him because team officials said he breached his contract by using cocaine.

Mr. Wilson, a deeply religious man, was not remotely familiar with the drug culture.

"He was very genteel and conservative," recalled Mr. Ryan. "He needed an education. So he dispatched me to Heads Together to buy paraphernalia. I bought bottles and spoons and brought them back."

Mr. Wilson put the items in his briefcase, but ended up having to explain the items during an airport search. After that somewhat comical scene, Bill Mallin, then head of the litigation department, drafted a letter for Mr. Wilson to carry on trips that informed officials about his paraphernalia collection.

The Parker case was settled in the Pirates' favor.

Outside the office, Mr. Wilson loved golf and serving as an elder at Ruthfred Lutheran Church in Bethel Park. He was devoted to God and made no bones about his right-of-center leanings, often blasting liberals in letters to the Post-Gazette.

In one from February, he took offense at Hollywood stars, who he said used the Academy Awards as a "platform for their far-left political and social agenda."

"During this year's ceremony, Bill Maher blasphemed God and insulted millions of viewers who worship God by saying that our creator is 'silly,' " he wrote. "Sean Penn then compounded the insults by stating that the millions of Californians who voted for the gay marriage ban (a ban which has been approved in every state in which it has been voted upon) had brought 'shame' upon their children and grandchildren.

"These instances illustrate how liberals, who love to preach tolerance, actually are themselves among the most intolerant of people, and have no regard for the feelings and sensitivities of those who disagree with them."

Mr. Wilson was born in Zanesville, Ohio, the middle son of a teacher and chemist for whom a school for troubled youngsters was later named. The family moved to New Jersey when he was 9. After high school, he graduated from Capital University in Ohio in 1956. He didn't know what he wanted to do, said his brother, John Wilson, 72, of Albany, N.Y., so he joined the Army for a few years.

When he got out in 1959, he decided to go to law school and graduated second in his class from Ohio State in 1962. He joined Eckert Seamans that year and never left.

He married his first wife, Wilda J. Wilson, in 1957, and had two boys, but the marriage eventually broke up. In 2000, he met his second wife, Teresa, 63. They married the following year.

He was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2007, Teresa Wilson said, after which she cared for him.

As he fought the disease, he still went in to the office nearly every day.

"I can't tell you the courage with which he faced this ordeal," said Mr. Mallin.

In addition to his wife and brother, Mr. Wilson is survived by a sister, Marilyn Coleman, 78, of Westerville, Ohio; his sons, Mark of Los Angeles and Arthur of Bethel Park; and his step-daughters, Lisa Adams and Robbyn Braverman, both of Ligonier.

Visitation will be from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. today and tomorrow at Beinhauer Mortuary in Peters.

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