{{Short description|American judge}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Edward Cochrane McLean | honorific_suffix = | image = | alt = | caption = | office = Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | term_start = August 24, 1962 | term_end = October 12, 1972 | nominator = | appointer = John F. Kennedy | predecessor = Edward Jordan Dimock | successor = Richard Owen | pronunciation = | birth_name = Edward Cochrane McLean | birth_date = {{Birth date|1903|10|16}} | birth_place = Hoosick Falls, New York | death_date = {{Death date and age|1972|10|12|1903|10|16}} | death_place = New York City, New York | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | citizenship = | party = Republican | other_party = | height = | spouse = | partner = | relations = | children = | parents = | mother = | father = | relatives = | education = Williams College (AB)<br>Harvard University (LLB) | alma_mater = | occupation = | profession = | known_for = | salary = | net_worth = | cabinet = | committees = | portfolio = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = <!--Embedded templates / Footnotes--> | footnotes = }}
'''Edward Cochrane McLean''' (October 16, 1903 – October 12, 1972) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
==Education== [[File:Downtown Hoosick Falls, NY.jpg|right|thumb|Hoosick Falls, New York, McLean's home town]] Born on October 16, 1903, in Hoosick Falls, New York, McLean received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Williams College in 1924 and a Bachelor of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1929. While at Harvard, he served on the ''Harvard Law Review'' with Lee Pressman and knew Alger Hiss. (In the mid-1930s, both Pressman and Hiss became members of the Ware Group, a Soviet underground apparatus founded by Harold Ware, succeeded by Whittaker Chambers).<ref name=NYTobit>{{cite news|title = Edward McLean, A Federal Judge|work = New York Times|url = https://www.nytimes.com/1972/10/13/archives/edward-mlealq-i-a-federal-judge-hiss-classmate-who-pleaded-perjury.html|date = 13 October 1972|accessdate = 27 December 2017}}</ref><ref name=OpenJurist>{{cite web|title = Judge Edward Cochrane McLean|publisher = Open Jurist|url = https://openjurist.org/judge/edward-cochrane-mclean|date =|accessdate = 27 December 2017}}</ref><ref name=FCJ>{{cite web|title = McLean, Edward Cochrane|publisher = Federal Judicial Center|url = https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/mclean-edward-cochrane|date =|accessdate = 27 December 2017}}</ref>
==Career== [[File:Alger Hiss (1950).jpg|right|thumb|Alger Hiss (1950), whom McLean defended]] McLean served as a deputy assistant district attorney for New York County from 1935 to 1936, working for future Governor of New York Thomas E. Dewey, then the special rackets prosecutor.<ref name=NYTobit /><ref name=OpenJurist /><ref name=FCJ /> He entered private practice in New York City from 1943 to 1962. He was a Judge of the Darien, Connecticut Probate Court from 1957 to 1962.
===Hiss Case===
While in private practice with Debevoise, Plimpton and McLean (now Debevoise & Plimpton<ref>{{cite web|title = About Us|publisher = Debevoise & Plimpton|url = http://www.debevoise.com/firm/|date =|accessdate = 20 December 2013}}</ref>), McLean served on defense teams for Alger Hiss. He served as attorney of record for the Hiss libel suit as well as the first Hiss criminal trial and posted bail for Hiss after his indictment. His firm also coordinated finances for the trials (recorded in papers of common Harvard friend [https://www.nytimes.com/1978/01/28/archives/richard-h-field-74-dies-harvard-law-professor.html Richard H. Field]<ref>{{cite web|title = Field, Richard H. Papers, 1932, 1942-1978: Finding Aid|publisher = Harvard University Library|url = http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~law00097|date = May 1978|accessdate = 27 December 2017}}</ref>). The trial team included Robert von Mehren, also new to Debevoise, Plimpton and McLean, as well as Harold Rosenwald, both fellow Harvard Law School graduates. McLean played a major role in locating the Hiss family's Woodstock typewriter that later contributed to Hiss' conviction. McLean continued to represent Hiss until he resigned by letter to Hiss on February 3, 1950.<ref name=NYTobit /><ref name=OpenJurist /><ref name=FCJ /><ref>{{cite web|title = United States v. Hiss, 88 F. Supp. 559 (S.D.N.Y. 1950)|publisher = Justia|url = https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/88/559/1956879/|date = 4 January 1950|accessdate = 27 December 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first = Allen|last = Weinstein|authorlink = Allen Weinstein|title = Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case|publisher = Hoover Press|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=a86i_Di4X8sC|page = 522|date = 1 September 2013|accessdate = 27 December 2017|isbn = 9780817912260}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first = William L.|last = Marbury Jr.|authorlink = William L. Marbury Jr.|title = The Hiss-Chambers Libel Suit|journal = Maryland Law Review|publisher = University of Maryland - Francis King Carey School of Law|url = http://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/mlr/vol41/iss1/10/|pages = 85–101|date = 1981| volume=41 | issue=1 |accessdate = 18 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title = In Re Hiss, 542 F. Supp. 973 (S.D.N.Y. 1982)|publisher = Court Listener|url = https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2284448/in-re-hiss/|date = 15 July 1982|accessdate = 27 December 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite SSRN|first = John W.|last = Berresford|title = How Alger Hiss Was Framed: The Latest Theory|pages = 6–25|date = 3 November 2015|ssrn = 2685270}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first1 = Stephe|last1 = Salant|first2 = Athan|last2 = Theoharis|first3 = David|last3 = Levin|first4 = Allen|last4 = Weinstein|title = The Hiss Case: An Exchange|publisher = New York Review of Books|url = http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1976/05/27/the-hiss-case-an-exchange/|date = 27 May 1976|accessdate = 27 December 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title = Pleads Innocent|publisher = Sullivan Daily Times|url = https://newspapers.library.in.gov/cgi-bin/indiana?a=d&d=SDT19481216.1.1|date = 16 December 1948|accessdate = 27 December 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first = John J.|last = Danahy|title = The Alger Hiss Case|publisher = National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund|url = http://www.nleomf.org/assets/pdfs/nlem/oral-histories/FBI_Danahy_addendum.pdf|pages = 14|date = 26 September 2006|accessdate = 27 December 2017}}</ref>
==Federal judicial service==
On April 3, 1962, McLean was nominated by President John F. Kennedy to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated by Judge Edward Jordan Dimock. McLean was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 13, 1962, and received his commission on August 24, 1962. McLean served in that capacity until his death on October 12, 1972.<ref name=NYTobit /><ref name=OpenJurist /><ref name=FCJ /><ref>{{cite web|title = The 154 District Judges: Biographies, Writings and Cases|publisher = New York Southern District - U.S. District Court|url = http://history.nysd.uscourts.gov/judges.php|date =|accessdate = 27 December 2017}}</ref>
==Personal and death==
McLean was a Republican, president of the Harvard Law School Association of New York City, and member of the Century Club.<ref name=NYTobit /> McLean married Louise Delabarre Hunter (May 15, 1906 – October 21, 2004). They had two sons, Edward C. McLean Jr. and Alan H. McLean.<ref name=NYTobit /><ref>{{cite news|title = McLean, Louise H.|work = New York Times|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/24/classified/paid-notice-deaths-mclean-louise-h.html|date = 24 October 2004|accessdate = 27 December 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title = Louise McLean Obituary|publisher = Legacy|url = http://www.legacy.com/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=2750058|date = 25 October 2004|accessdate = 27 December 2017}}</ref> McLean died age 68 on October 12, 1972, in New York City as he was entering the United States Court House at Foley Square.<ref name=NYTobit /><ref name=OpenJurist /><ref name=FCJ />
==McLean Jr.==
McLean's son, Edward Cochrane McLean Jr. (1935–2010), also known at Ted McLean, was a litigation lawyer and partner at Chadbourne & Parke.<ref name=NYTobitJr>{{cite news|title = McLean, Edward C.|work = New York Times|url = https://archive.nytimes.com/query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage-9902E0D9173AF934A35752C1A9669D8B63.html|date = 7 November 2010|accessdate = 21 February 2017}}</ref><ref name=PUobit>{{cite web|title = Memorial: Edward C. McLean Jr. '57|publisher = Princeton University|url = https://paw.princeton.edu/memorial/edward-c-mclean-jr-%E2%80%9957|date = 19 January 2011|accessdate = 21 February 2017}}</ref> He was born on June 23, 1935, and attended Deerfield Academy, Princeton University (BA), and Harvard Law School (1960). He passed the bar in 1961.<ref name=NYTobitJr /><ref name=PUobit /> He served six months in the U.S. Army.<ref name=PUobit /> Then, he became a litigation attorney and partner of Chadbourne & Parke from 1961 (partner, 1968) to 1994.<ref name=NYTobitJr /><ref name=PUobit /> Cases he litigated include: Sprayregen v. Livingston Oil Company (1968),<ref>{{cite web|title = Sprayregen v. Livingston Oil Company|publisher = Justia|url = http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/295/1376/2080919/|date =|accessdate = 21 February 2017}}</ref> Martin Marietta Corp. v. Feder (1970),<ref>{{cite web|title = Martin Marietta Corp. v. Feder|publisher = CaseText|url = https://casetext.com/case/martin-marietta-corp-v-feder|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170222111455/https://casetext.com/case/martin-marietta-corp-v-feder|url-status = dead|archive-date = February 22, 2017|date = 2016|accessdate = 21 February 2017}}</ref> Crane Co. v. Anaconda Co. (1975),<ref>{{cite web|title = Crane Co. v. Anaconda Co.|publisher = Justia|url = http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/411/1208/1643042/|date = |accessdate = 21 February 2017}}</ref> Air Transport Ass'n of America v. Federal Energy Office (1975),<ref>{{cite web|title = Air Transport Ass'n of America v. Federal Energy Office|publisher = Ravel|url = https://www.ravellaw.com/opinions/761e631ea05b78f35460c7d772148d22|date = |accessdate = 21 February 2017}}</ref> Armstrong v. McAlpin (1978),<ref>{{cite web|title = Armstrong v. McAlpin|publisher = Ravel|url = https://www.ravellaw.com/opinions/6de0215cedecbfd34ddff61aef23522f|date = |accessdate = 21 February 2017}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and Seibert v. Sperry Rand (1978)<ref>{{cite web|title = Seibert v. Sperry Rand|publisher = Law Resource|url = https://law.resource.org/pub/us/case/reporter/F2/586/586.F2d.949.78-7186.1155.html|date = |accessdate = 21 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title = Seibert v. Sperry Rand|publisher = Open Jurist|url = http://openjurist.org/586/f2d/949/seibert-v-sperry-rand-corporation-d|date = 31 October 1978| volume=F2d | issue=586 | page=949 |accessdate = 21 February 2017}}</ref> McLean served as committee chair on administrative law from 1971 to 1972 for the American Bar Association.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}} He served on the New Castle, New York's Planning Board, Conservation Advisory Council, and Conservation Board.<ref name=NYTobitJr /><ref name=PUobit /> On November 25, 1961, he married Jennifer Prescott (daughter of book critic Orville Prescott) and had two daughters and a son.<ref name=NYTobitJr /><ref name=PUobit /><ref> {{cite news|title = Weddings: Wendy P. Stevens, Thomas McLean|work = New York Times|url = https://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/25/style/weddings-wendy-p-stevens-thomas-mclean.html|date = 25 June 1995|accessdate = 21 February 2017}}</ref>
==See also==
* Alger Hiss * Robert von Mehren * Debevoise & Plimpton * United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Sources==
* {{FJC Bio|1580|nid=1384816|name=Edward Cochrane McLean<!--(1903–1972)-->}}
{{s-start}} {{s-legal}} {{s-bef|before=Edward Jordan Dimock}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York}}|years=1962–1972}} {{s-aft|after=Richard Owen}} {{s-end}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McLean, Edward Cochrane}} Category:1903 births Category:1972 deaths Category:Williams College alumni Category:Harvard Law School alumni Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York Category:United States district court judges appointed by John F. Kennedy Category:People from Hoosick Falls, New York Category:20th-century American lawyers Category:People associated with Debevoise & Plimpton