Gordon F. Hampton; Lawyer and Art Collector

Gordon F. Hampton, an antitrust attorney, philanthropist, art collector and veteran trustee of the Museum of Contemporary Art, has died. He was 84.

Hampton, a pioneering name partner in the law firm of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, died Saturday at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, his firm’s managing partner, Carlton Varner, announced Monday.

Known for his own modern art collection as well as his support of artists, Hampton had served on the MOCA board since 1983, the year the Los Angeles museum presented its first public programs. He was also a charter benefactor, and a gallery at the museum’s California Plaza building is named for him and his family.

Hampton was also active in the Pasadena Museum of Modern Art, which became the Norton Simon Museum, and was a founder and former chairman of the Fellows of Contemporary Art.

A graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School, Hampton served as president of the Stanford University Alumni Assn. He was a donor to the Rodin Sculpture Garden at Stanford and a donor to the Gordon F. Hampton Fellowship for Studio Art at Stanford.

In 1938, the Fullerton-born Hampton joined the law firm then known as Mathes & Sheppard and helped guide it from five lawyers to about 350 today, one of the state’s largest firms.

“Gordon was truly a wonderful person, a great lawyer and the visionary that built this firm,” Varner said.

A trial lawyer, Hampton helped develop and expand antitrust laws in the 1950s and was a founder of the American Bar Assn. antitrust section. He personally handled price-fixing litigation known as the “San Diego plumbing cases” and worked on a variety of suits involving fast food, poultry raising and the tuna industry.

Hampton is survived by three children, Roger Hampton, Katharine “Kit” Hampton Shenk and Wesley Hampton, and 10 grandchildren.

Funeral services are scheduled for 4 p.m. Dec. 5, at the Church of Our Savior, 535 W. Roses Road in San Gabriel.

The family has requested that any memorial donations be made either to the Gordon F. Hampton Fellowship in Studio Art, in care of Gift Processing, 301 Encina Hall, Stanford, CA 94305, or to MOCA, 250 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles 90012.