Lowell Elijah Sachnoff died peacefully of natural causes on March 21, at home with his family.

A legal legend and civil rights icon, Lowell was ahead of his time in his work in the 1960’s on behalf of the civil rights of Black activists murdered by police and people with mental illness, and later on behalf of women being routinely strip-searched by police, abortion rights, transgender rights, nuclear disarmament, fighting for the release of prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay without charges, and for compassionate care and medical aid in dying.

Sachnoff was born on Maxwell Street in Chicago, the son of Ukrainian immigrants who fled pogroms in Eastern Europe. He swam competitively at Senn High School in Chicago, graduating in 1948, and spent summers as a lifeguard.

Sachnoff is a graduate of Harvard College, which he attended on a full academic scholarship, and a graduate of Harvard Law School in 1957.

He served as a Lieutenant Commander with the Office of Naval Intelligence during the Korean War.

In the 1960s, Lowell co-founded the law firm that became known as Sachnoff & Weaver. It merged with Reed Smith in 2007. As a class action, securities and antitrust litigator Mr. Sachnoff won groundbreaking securities fraud, price-fixing, and takeover cases.

A lifelong athlete, Lowell thrived on playing tennis well into his 80’s. Into his final months, he continued studying Russian, swimming in Lake Michigan, mentoring other lawyers and campaigning for progressive political candidates. He loved his many dear friends, poker, great literature, good grammar, opera, growing vegetables, and baking challah.

He is survived by his wife, Fay Clayton; and his children, Scott, Marc, and Kate Sachnoff; step children, Kim Clayton Giese (Bruce Patterson), and Suzanne Clayton (Breanna Taylor); grandchildren Allie, Sam, and Joel Sachnoff, Monica Sachnoff-Pinedo and Sasha S. Rosenthal; and great-granddaughter, Sofia Pinedo. He was pre-deceased by his older brother, Everett. A service will be held to honor him on Sunday, April 23rd at 2:30 pm at the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation, 303 Dodge Avenue in Evanston.

Donations in his honor may be made to the ACLU of Illinois, the Chicago Foundation for Women, Planned Parenthood of Illinois, and the Center for Constitutional Rights.

Sachnoff’s children have established a writing prize in his name at Senn High School to celebrate and spread his love of good writing.