Tom Bolan

In private law practice for almost 50 years, Mr. Bolan was the longtime partner of Roy M. Cohn, senior partner in the firms Saxe, Bacon & Bolan and Bolan, Lang, Binacone & Tiffenberg, taught in the St. John’s University School of Law for four years, and was executive officer or director of numerous corporations, banks, and charitable organizations. A close personal friend of conservative author and commentator William F. Buckley Jr., Bolan helped found the National Review and served on its board of directors for many years. Bolan's public service included heading former President Ronald Reagan's 1980 transition team in New York State and he later played a key role in selecting major federal judicial appointments for Sen. D'Amato, including picking a former FBI agent Louis J. Freeh for the bench. Freeh later became FBI Director. A devout Catholic, Bolan served as a professor at St. John’s University School of Law and represented the Archdiocese of New York and defended cases such as school prayer and discrimination against Catholic teachers. was a founder of the Human Life Foundation, the Ad Hoc Committee in Defense of Life, and other pro-life organizations. Bolan was sentenced for his role in Martin Frankel’s multi-million dollar fraud against several insurance companies. . On Nov. 30, 2004, Bolan pleaded guilty to a one-count Information charging him with misprision of a felony. Bolan lived in Flushing, N.Y. He is survived by his wife, Marie, children Douglas, Mary, Jacqueline and William, and grandchildren Christopher, John, Jennifer, Brian, Matthew, Isaac, Emily, and Jonathan. He was preceded in death by his son Thomas Sean in 2002, and granddaughter Margaret in 2003.