Fulton Haight; Helped Reform Ethiopia Judicial System

Fulton “Bill” Haight, a longtime Los Angeles lawyer and legal scholar who helped Ethiopia reform its judicial system, died Friday evening. He was 74.

Haight died of complications from a rare lung disease called interstitial fibrosis, said daughter Maureen Gee.

Haight started his legal career in 1949 after graduating from USC. At the request of former President Jimmy Carter, Haight traveled to Ethiopia in 1991, just months after the collapse of that nation’s Communist regime, to serve as an advisor to the new government.

In 1994, Haight served as a delegate to the Canadian-American Supreme Court Judicial Exchange, along with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and former California Chief Justice Malcolm Lucas.

A fifth-generation Californian, Haight’s ancestors included Henry Huntley Haight, the first federal judge of California, and Fletcher M. Haight, who was governor of California from 1867-1871.

Haight was one of the primary drafters of the Los Angeles Special Arbitration Plan, which was later enacted into law by the California Legislature.

He served as an elected member of the California State Bar Board of Governors and as chairman of the State Bar Arbitration Committee.

Before his death, he was serving as the National Membership Chairman of the United States Supreme Court Historical Society.

He is survived by his wife, Dorothy, three children and six grandchildren. Memorial services will be held at 3 p.m. Thursday at Brentwood Presbyterian Church, 12000 San Vicente Blvd., West Los Angeles.

Burial will be private. Contributions may be made to the Fulton Haight Fund at the USC School of Law.