This article originally appeared in The Bar Examiner print edition, Summer 2024 (Vol. 93, No. 2), pp. 62.
Alan Kay, former chair of the NCBE Board of Trustees (1996–1997), passed away on February 25, 2024. Isidoro (“Ike”) Berkman, who chaired the NCBE Board of Trustees from 2001 to 2002, offers the following tribute to Alan.
By Isidoro (“Ike”) BerkmanAlan passed away earlier this year at the age of 89. He was a member of the NCBE Board of Trustees (then known as the Board of Managers) beginning in 1988, chairing the Board from 1996 to 1997.
Born in London, England, in 1934, Alan immigrated with his family at age 18 to the Washington DC area, obtained his undergraduate and law degrees from George Washington University, and clerked for two judges in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. After that he remained in DC to practice as a public defender, a federal prosecutor for the United States Attorneys’ Office, and a named partner with the business law firm Bregman, Abell & Kay.
He was appointed a US magistrate judge for the DC Federal District Court in 1991 and served in that capacity until he retired in 2019, one of the longest tenures by a federal magistrate judge in the country. He presided in this capacity over many so-called Guantanamo Detainee cases that were widely covered by the national news media.
Alan was a devoted husband to his lovely wife of 55 years, Marcia Achter Kay, who predeceased him. Their two children, Lisa and Michael, also predeceased Alan.
Even while he was quite busy as a magistrate judge, he found the time to serve on the DC Court of Appeals Committee on Admissions; thereafter, NCBE was fortunate to have Alan join its Board of Trustees.
Alan was a fun person to be around. He never lost a bit of his British accent, enjoyed fine dining, and was always smiling and sharing stories about his scuba diving adventures. Alan was welcoming to new Board members like me, made incisive comments and suggestions during Board meetings, and at Board dinners always made sure that he saved his dessert “ferlater,” as he put it, to share with Marcia when he got home.
Alan will be missed by both the DC judicial community and those in the bar admissions community who were fortunate to have worked with him.
Isidoro (“Ike”) Berkman served as chair of the NCBE Board of Trustees from 2001 to 2002.
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