'A lawyer's lawyer:' Remembering longtime Leesburg City Attorney Fred Morrison
LEESBURG — Fred A. Morrison, the longtime city attorney for Leesburg and senior partner at McLin Burnsed, died Saturday. He was 67.
“It’s sad. We’re going to miss him,” said Mayor John Christian. “He was very knowledgeable, one of the most knowledgeable attorneys I’ve ever known.”
“He was a lawyer’s lawyer,” said Phillip Smith, senior partner and director of McLin Burnsed. “In the office, the other attorneys would come to him to ask how to get something done.”
City Manager Al Minner on Monday called him “one of the most eloquent and dignified attorneys I've ever known."
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Minner said Morrison has been the city attorney “off and on for about 30 years.”
Morrison was a native of Leesburg, “who knew everybody in town,” Smith said. He was a “double Gator.” He graduated with an undergraduate degree from the University of Florida and earned his law degree there, too.
Survivors include his wife, Susan; daughter Isabella Morrison; and son, Nicholas.
The funeral will be held Saturday at 3 p.m. at Morrison United Methodist Church, with a reception at the Leesburg Boat Club at 4:30 p.m., according to Facebook posts. Beyers Funeral Home is handling the arrangements. Guests are asked to wear red at the funeral
Morrison was generally laid back at City Commission meetings, giving advice when asked but not thrusting himself unnecessarily into the limelight.
He was honest, frank and issued his opinions on facts and the law, Christian said. He stayed out of the politics.
“He kept us from doing something illegal or stupid,” Christian said. “He could go from cuddly bear to grizzly bear if someone was being facetious or doing something detrimental to the city."
Morrison joined the Leesburg law firm when he graduated in 1979.
He was a member of Phi Theta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi and Order of the Coif. Morrison was a member of the Florida Bar under the local government, real property, probate and trust law sections and served as secretary of the Lake County Bar Association for several years.
He served as president of the Leesburg Jaycees and president of Hospice of Lake & Sumter Inc.
As lead counsel for the city of Leesburg, Morrison dealt with land use and zoning, ordinances, contracts, and litigation. He also assisted the Lake County School Board with property transactions.
Morrison's work included non-governmental clients, commercial leasing and sales, borrowers and lenders, and things like foreclosures, boundary disputes, access problems and title insurance claims.
This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Remembering longtime Leesburg City Attorney Fred Morrison, who died Saturday
