Robert D. McLean; Antitrust Attorney Headed Law Firm

Robert D. McLean, chairman of the executive committee of the international law firm Sidley & Austin who defended auditors in litigation stemming from the Orange County bankruptcy, has died. He was 53.

McLean died Monday of cancer at his Chicago home, his Los Angeles office said Friday.

Skilled in law firm administration, McLean made his reputation as an antitrust lawyer defending major accounting firms and blue-chip corporations. Among his clients was KPMG Peat Marwick, the accounting firm that served as auditor for Orange County.

Last year, McLean won a reversal of one of the largest verdicts ever entered against an accounting firm, an $81-million federal jury award against Deloitte & Touche over the financial failure of commercial real estate firm Koger Properties Inc. The attorney also defended the Bell System in United States vs. AT&T;, at the time the largest antitrust action ever brought by the government.

Educated at Northwestern University and Yale Law School, McLean clerked for Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and joined Sidley & Austin in Chicago in 1972.

He was named to the firm’s executive committee in 1984 and elected chairman in 1993. McLean was credited with helping move the firm into international markets in London, elsewhere in Europe and in Asia.

He headed the now 800-lawyer firm, including its 100 attorneys in Los Angeles.

McLean is survived by his wife, Leslie; his parents, Edward and Beatrice; four children; a brother and a sister.