Walsh, Lawrence E(dward) (1912– )

Canadian-born US lawyer. He was district judge of New York (1954–57), US deputy attorney general (1957–60), and deputy head of the US delegation on Vietnam in Paris, France (1969). He was a partner in the Washington firm of Davis, Polk, and Wardwell (1961–81) before joining Oklahoma City's Crowe & Dunlevy in 1981. From 1986–92 he was the independent counsel heading the investigation of the Iran-Contra affair, and as such found himself both reviled and defended for his persistence in pursuing those involved. Walsh was born in Port Maitland, Nova Scotia, Canada, and emigrated to the USA in 1914. He took his law degree at Columbia University, graduating in 1935.