McDougal attorney dies at 55
This article was published December 26, 2007 at 10:28 p.m.
PHOTO BY AP
Jim McDougal, left, and his lawyer, Sam Heuer, talk to reporters in this 1996 file photo. Heuer died Dec. 22, 2007, after battling cancer for four months.
Sam Heuer, a lawyer for the most colorful figure in the years-long Whitewater investigation, died Saturday after fighting cancer for four months. He was 55.
Heuer found himself in a national spotlight when he represented Jim McDougal, founder of Whitewater Development Corp., in a federal court case stemming from a special prosecutor's investigation of then-President Bill Clinton's relationship with the company, McDougal and his wife.
"He said the same thing we all said after that was finally finished: 'It was quite an experience,"' according to Jack Lassiter of Little Rock, a lawyer who worked closely with Heuer on the Whitewater case. "We were tested as attorneys, we felt like we did a good job for our clients, but none of us wanted to do it again."
Heuer, a Batesville native, graduated from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville Law School in 1978. He served as a deputy prosecutor in Washington County until he returned to his hometown and was elected to two terms as prosecuting attorney.
For the past five years, he had been in private practice with the Coplin and Heuer law firm in Little Rock. Law partner Barry Coplin said Heuer showed his character after learning of his terminal diagnosis this fall.
"He chose not to undergo round after round of treatment and prolong the agony for himself and his family," Coplin said. "He accepted his fate."
Lassiter said Heuer reveled in defending the underdog.
"He staunchly believed in the right of everyone to top-notch representation," Lassiter said.
Heuer enjoyed his work, according to Lassiter.
"Sam liked to mix it up in the courtroom," Lassiter said. "Particularly when the witness list looked like the crew of (a pirate ship). He enjoyed the drama."
A funeral was held Monday at Little Rock, where Heuer was buried.
He is survived by five children and his wife, Max Heuer.
