Connecticut's legal community is saying farewell to John Merchant, a man known for breaking barriers, and regarded as a trailblazer among civil-rights lawyers and black attorneys.

Merchant died Thursday. He was 87.

In 1958, he became the first black student to graduate from the University of Virginia Law School. He was also one of the few black criminal-defense attorneys in the Bridgeport area in the 1960s and 1970s.

"He was looked up to by other black lawyers in the state, but he was also looked up to and admired by members of the bar in general," said Robert Lacobelle of Trumbull-based Byrne & Lacobelle.

Lacobelle first met Merchant in the late 1970s. They quickly became friends.

"I had just entered the State's Attorneys Office in Bridgeport as prosecutor," Lacobelle said. "One day I decided to watch a criminal trial in action, and John was the defense attorney. I remember seeing this man of such stature in front of the jury. He had a great demeanor. He was tall, thin and well-spoken. He was drawing on the blackboard—nice thought-out movements—almost like an actor. He was just mesmerizing to watch."

Merchant teamed in the 1960s with attorneys Scott Melville and E. Eugene Spear to open one of the area's first all-minority-owned law firms. Lacobelle called him a "trailblazer and a good, intelligent trial attorney."

Silver, a senior partner with Bridgeport-based Silver Golub & Teitell, knew Merchant from their days at the University of Virginia Law School in the late 1950s.

"Back when he started practicing law, there were very few black attorneys," Silver said. "He was a leader, and very active in the area of civil rights. Black attorneys looked up to him."

Merchant stopped practicing law in 2008. But before that, he created the Walter N. Ridley Scholarship Fund to provide scholarships and grants for black students at the University of Virginia Law School.

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'In his element'

Those who knew Merchant also remembered his love of sports.

"We both shared a passion for golf," longtime friend Lacobelle added. "I'd never beat him. He was too good."

Friends also pointed out that Merchant knew Tiger Woods when the champion golfer was a teenage amateur. They also note that the attorney, who also practiced entertainment and sports law, had represented Woods.

"He told anyone who'd listen that Tiger was going to be the best golfer of all-time," Lacobelle said. "He never wavered from that."

Day Pitney partner Stan Twardy Jr. also shared a fond memory.

"I remember one instance when he invited me to the Country Club of Fairfield, where Tiger Woods, who was still at Stanford, was to benefit a foundation that Earl Woods, Tiger's father, established," Twardy said. "It was a who's who of corporate Connecticut and the Connecticut golfing scene. And John was in his element."

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