Leo Beus, Phoenix attorney and ASU donor, dies at 78
Leo Beus, a prominent Phoenix attorney, died Monday. He was 78.
Beus co-founded Beus Gilbert, a Phoenix law firm where he led the litigation department. The law firm was ranked one of the country’s top firms for land use and zoning law by U.S. News & World Report.
Beus and his law firm partner, Paul Gilbert, met in the Netherlands as 19-year-olds serving on their missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Their friendship endured through college and the workforce, and the men started the firm in 1982.
The Phoenix Business Journal once referred to Beus and Gilbert as a “legal odd couple.”
“Beus is a prominent, aggressive, not-always-liked litigator taking on the likes of Pfizer and big accounting firms,” the Business Journal wrote.
Gilbert told The Arizona Republic that Beus' death on Monday was unexpected.
"He had some medical struggles, but he seemed to be making progress," Gilbert said. "We all felt that he had some good years left."
Gilbert described Beus as an adept attorney who handled several high-profile cases that led to massive payouts for his clients.
He represented Brigham Young University, his alma mater, in a case against Pfizer over who developed the painkiller Celebrex. BYU received $450 million in the case.
And while Beus represented large organizations, Gilbert said he also took pro bono cases from individuals suing companies who had wronged them but couldn't afford to go up against their legal team.
Gilbert said Beus was a deeply compassionate man who paid off multiple medical debts others had incurred and strived to help others.
"The Valley has lost a great lawyer, but also a great humanitarian," Gilbert said. "His legal work will be greatly missed, but equally his humanitarian work will be greatly missed."
Gilbert wasn't the only attorney to acknowledge Beus' expertise.
“Leo is a tough, aggressive, occasionally nasty, hard-core litigator,” attorney Grady Gammage told the Business Journal.
Beyond the law firm, Beus was a major donor to Arizona State University, and several university assets bear his name.
Beus, along with his wife, Annette, served as a co-chair of the President’s Club at ASU.
A center within ASU’s law school, the Beus Center for Law and Society, is named after the pair. The Beuses donated $10 million to help build the law school in downtown Phoenix.
The couple also has a large laser named after them at ASU. They gave $10 million toward the completion of the Beus Compact X-ray Free Electron Laser Lab at ASU’s Biodesign Institute. The laser was called a “first-of-its-kind X-ray technology with potential applications in medicine, the ‘green’ renewable energy economy, the computer industry and beyond” by ASU Now.
ASU President Michael Crow praised the Beuses for their impact on the university at the time of the laser donation.
“Leo and Annette Beus have become more than visionary benefactors critical to the mission and success of ASU; they represent the very best of our ASU family,” Crow said. “With this most recent investment, they will spur the development of a brilliant, home-grown ASU X-ray technology that has a vast potential for life-altering, worldwide impact.”
In total, Beus was the lead litigator on cases where the firm won verdicts and settlements for clients amounting to more than $4 billion, the Beus Gilbert website says.
He graduated in 1970 with a juris doctorate from the University of Michigan School of Law. Before that, he received a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University.
Beus was admitted to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court and various other levels of federal courts, as well as the Arizona Supreme Court.
He once counted himself as fluent in Dutch and Flemish, the firm’s website says.
He is survived by his wife, Annette.
Rachel Leingang is a former reporter at The Arizona Republic.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Leo Beus, attorney and ASU donor, dies at 78
