Tag Archive for: Christine Hogan

The 1970s: A decade of prominence

The 1970s ushered in an era in which many prominent attorneys and those who are the namesake of the Firm today joined. Both Harry and Bill Pearce, and Pat and Tim Durick joined, as well as the Firm’s first female attorney, Christine Hogan. Also, during this time, the Firm relocated to its current offices in the Downtown Office Building.

Harry Pearce originally wanted to be a pilot in the Air Force but found his calling in the legal profession, he practiced as a Staff Judge Advocate before coming back to Bismarck, he was with the Firm for a number of years before General Motors, a client of the Firm, recruited him as associate general counsel. He went on to become vice chairman of GM and served on a variety of boards throughout his career.

William “Bill” Pearce had intentions of being an astrophysicist and holds a Ph.D. in the subject. Though after beginning a Fellowship at Princeton, he decided that law was his desired career. He has and continues to write articles for various legal publications.

Together the Pearce brothers had some interesting cases and those in the legal community took note, after writing a two-volume brief, new statutes were introduced to amend the approved length of a brief. They also got a statute changed via amendment by the North Dakota Legislature to add an emergency clause to the Century Code so they could bring evidence into court for a case they were working on.

Pat Durick crossed paths with Harry Pearce when they were both in the Air Force Academy. After completing his law degree and clerking for a District Judge, he joined the Firm as has been with us ever since. He has served on several committees and boards during his professional career.

Tim Durick was a special assistant attorney general with the State Tax Commission prior to opening a firm with three other Bismarck attorneys. He served as a municipal court judge in Bismarck for a time during his career. He later came to the Firm and was here until his full retirement in 2018.

Christine Hogan was a law clerk and court planner for the North Dakota Supreme Court before she joined the Firm. Additionally, she was Governor Link’s legislative assistant for a period of time, serving as a liaison between the governor’s office and the legislature. Hogan was a nationally recognized product liability attorney and argued in front of the United States Supreme Court in 2000 on the case Weisgram v. Marley Company.