Alexander Forger

{{Infobox person

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|name = Alexander Forger

|birth_name = Alexander Darrow Forger

|birth_date = {{birth date|1923|02|19}}

|birth_place = New York City, U.S.

|death_date = {{death date and age|2025|03|09|1923|02|19}}

|death_place = White Plains, New York, U.S.

|burial_place=

|occupation = Lawyer

|party = Democratic

|education = {{ubl|Princeton University (AB)|Yale Law School (LLB)}}

|spouse = {{ubl|{{marriage|Nancy Brabant|June 22, 1946|August 12, 1993|reason=died}}|{{marriage|Fern Schair|January 28, 1995|January 26, 2023|reason=died}}}}

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Alexander Darrow Forger (February 19, 1923 – March 9, 2025) was an American lawyer from New York City.

Life and career

After infantry service with the United States Army in the European theatre of World War II, he received degrees from Princeton University and Yale Law School, and, after graduating, he was hired by Milbank, Tweed, Hope & Webb.{{cite news|first=Dena|last=Kleiman|title=The New President of the Legal Aid Society|work=The New York Times|date=October 28, 1977|volume=127|number=43742|edition=Late City|page=B3|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/10/28/archives/the-new-president-of-the-legal-aid-society-alexander-darrow-forger.html|access-date=October 27, 2023}} Becoming a partner at Milbank in 1958, he was a prominent trust and estate lawyer for several decades, notably representing Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Rachel Lambert Mellon, and he chaired the firm's executive committee from 1984 to 1992.{{cite interview|last=Forger|first=Alexander|title=A lawyer looks at 100|work=ABA Journal|date=October 5, 2023|interviewer=Amanda Robert|publisher=American Bar Association|url=https://www.abajournal.com/web/article/a-lawyer-looks-at-100|access-date=October 27, 2023}}

From 1980 to 1981, Forger was president of the New York State Bar Association as well as a member of the American Bar Association (ABA)'s House of Delegates. He was The Legal Aid Society's president from 1977 to 1979 and was chair of its board of directors from 1984 to 1993. From 1994 to 1997, he was president of the Legal Services Corporation. He was especially passionate about advocacy on behalf of the LGBTQ community and individuals with HIV/AIDS, citing discrimination he witnessed against his gay son and by policymakers throughout his career. In 2011, the ABA established the Alexander D. Forger Awards, given annually to "celebrate lawyers and legal service providers who have demonstrated a sustained commitment to the advancement of the rule of law for individuals living with HIV and the provision of direct legal services to individuals affected by HIV".

Forger died at his residence in White Plains, New York, on March 9, 2025, at the age of 102.{{cite news|title=Alexander Forger |newspaper=The New York Times| date=March 16, 2025|url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/nytimes/name/alexander-forger-obituary?id=57891866|access-date=March 17, 2025|via=Legacy.com}}