The Fish & Richardson family mourns the loss of Charles C. Winchester, who passed away on October 21, 2009. During the 41 years he practiced law with Fish & Richardson, Charlie was a counselor, leader, and mentor to many, and a friend to all. Charlie was the heart, soul, and conscience of the firm. He served on the firm's management committee, as the managing principal of the Boston office, and as the firm's ethics counsel.

Charlie joined Fish & Richardson in 1961, immediately after graduating from Boston College Law School. During his time at the firm, he had a diverse practice that included patent, trademark, and copyright litigation as well as patent and trademark prosecution and licensing advice.

Charlie and his wife Janet were most proud of their six children and seven grandchildren. After moving with his family to Milton, Massachusetts, Charlie devoted his free time to volunteer work in his community. In recognition of his many years of service, the Milton High School Auditorium was recently named in his honor.

Fish & Richardson owes an enormous debt of gratitude to Charlie for the work he did to build the solid foundation on which the firm has grown its global practice.

Words used to describe Frederick Fish could have easily been written to describe Charlie: "He was a great lawyer and a great scholar, but above all he was a great human being. Each of the thousands who came in contact with him during his extraordinarily active life is better for having known him. He radiated kindliness, sympathy and courage."

We are all better for having known Charlie. He will be missed.