Lehigh Valley Loses Legal Giant, I Lose a Great Friend

Bill Malkames, a prominent land use and commercial real estate attorney who was highly regarded here in the Lehigh Valley, passed away unexpectedly on Friday evening. The Lehigh Valley has lost one of the best lawyers it has ever had. I have lost a good friend whom I loved and admired. 

When I practiced law, I knew Bill in passing. I was mostly in the criminal arena, while he handled multi-million-dollar deals. Ironically, I got to know him a lot better when I bumped into him during summer basketball games at Cedar Beach in Allentown. He loved watching Jay and Sammy Vaughan play for Allentown Central Catholic High School and became a quick fan of my grandson as well. He attended nearly every game they played and followed Emily Vaughan when she played for the Vikings as well. When they went to college, Bill even attended several of those games. He loved sports and encouraged the kids he saw on the basketball court as well.

Bill never played sports himself, and I think that sometimes bothered him. He grew up in Hazelton but was pushed through high school quickly at a young age because he was so damn smart. He got himself an academic scholarship to Muhlenberg but liked playing pick-up basketball when he had a chance. One of the persons he played with and against was Judge Ed Cahan, who at that time was a Lehigh U baller who eventually was inducted into their Hall of Fame. Bill and Judge Cahn became very good friends. 

Bill went on to attend and graduate from University of Pennsylvania Law School. 

While attending college and law school, he was a beat reporter and of course loved covering sports. 

Bill and Bill Jr. 

When my grandson was playing a District XI game in Hazelton, Bill suggested that we go up together, and we took an amazing trip through the coal regions. 

We tooled up 309 North and I received quite the history lesson en route. We passed near the scene of the Kelayres massacre. That's where five Democrats were shot and killed in 1934 when they passed the home of "Big Joe," the local GOP boss. He wanted to stop there, but I passed.

I'm a Dem, and Big Joe might still be around.

We also passed near the site of the 1897 Lattimer Massacre, where 19 striking miners were shot and killed by a sheriff's posse. Though evidence showed that most of those killed had been shot in the back, the Sheriff and his posse were acquitted. The barrister wanted to stop there, too, but I said it's too late to pass out cards now.

We passed through economically depressed McAdoo and Tamaqua and along slag heaps left from strip mining. We passed an old company town, Audenreid, in which workers would be forced to spend all their earnings and never get ahead.

We also discussed the Molly Maguires and whether they received a fair trial (I said they didn't, he said they did).

We passed near the site of the Sheppton Mining disaster, in which two miners were rescued but a third was never found. Some think the surviving two miners ate him. This barrister suggested we stop there. "Not on an empty stomach," I answered.

Speaking of empty stomachs, we did stop at a great Italian restaurant called Ovalon. That's been there forever and would rival any restaurant in the Lehigh Valley.

Bill had an encyclopedic knowledge of local history but was well versed in local and national politics as well. 

As a lawyer, I always marveled at how much he cared about his clients. He was always at the office, even on Christmas day. If he thought he did something wrong, he'd be the first to notify his client. In one matter, a client bought a property in a regulated housing development that banned dogs. Bill felt that he should have advised the client of this ban even though I thought the owner should have read the regulations. Bill paid his client for what really was no error. 

People like me give lawyers a bad name, but Bill really cared about his integrity and was honest to a fault. 

Though Bill played no sports when he was being advanced through school at a rapid pace, he finally found time to embrace a sport in his middle age - biathlons. Bill was at one time the dominant racer for over 40 biathlons and even triathlons. He’d spend a full day in the office, followed by hours of training. In his 50s, he once defeated the entire team sent by West Point to compete in a biathlon. He recruited sons Mark and Bill to join him as well. 

Bill was very competitive, and this showed in his Hearts' game as well.  He loved to play and once traveled to Las Vegas for a Hearts' tournament. But more than playing, he loved the banter with his many Hearts companions. They included me, although he liked to describe me as "barely competent." Unfortunately, he won most of the games he played, especially if he had a glass of Sangria. 

I'd argue that Hearts is just a game of luck, and he should play me in chess. He clobbered me at that, too. 

He loved music, from Mozart to Bob Dylan. 

During games, he often liked to recite from one of his favorite poems, The Ballad of Reading Gaol, which is about a condemned man waiting to hang. At 91, Bill knew his time was coming and even said so but never complained.

He did not wring his hands nor weep,

Nor did he peek or pine,

But he drank the air as though it held

Some healthful anodyne;

With open mouth he drank the sun

As though it had been wine!

Bill is survived by his wife Lori, son Bill, daughter Susan Glass, several grandchildren, two very cantankerous dogs and hundreds of friends who loved him. I will miss him very much.