The world of corporate law lost someone special last week. Olivia Clarke was not a lawyer. She was not a judge. She was not a general counsel.
Olivia was the communications director at Kirkland & Ellis. She also was a former reporter and editor at the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. She knew her lawyers and firm and she equally knew our work and business. She was a strong advocate for her colleagues at the world’s largest corporate law firm, but lawyers inside Kirkland say she was equally an advocate pushing them to be open with journalists.
After a decade-long battle with cancer, Olivia died last week. She was only 46.
“Olivia was incredibly capable and unfailingly thoughtful,” Texas Lawbook senior editor Allen Pusey said Monday.
For a decade, Olivia was the go-to person for journalists needing information about Kirkland. But she also encouraged my team and me to develop relationships with the firm’s Texas lawyers. She was also quick and substantive in her responses. For that I credit her being a former journalist and knowing the deadlines we face and the ethical obligations that reporters have. She was always professional but also kind-hearted and patient with us.
And by that I mean with me. She was very patient and never condemning.
“Mark, that was a really good article this morning, but there is one problem,” Olivia wrote me in an email last year. “No urgency, but there are two k’s in Kirkland. But we all know you just had eye surgery. Just wanted you to know.”
That kind of graciousness and understanding is something that we all need to have, especially when I just had a retina reattached.
I only met Clarke once. It was not long after my mother had died in 2016. She immediately came over to me, introduced herself and then gave me a hug. I am so sorry that I was unable to return that hug in person three years later when her mom died.
In 2017, two years after she was originally diagnosed with breast cancer, Clarke formed a non-profit called Humor Beats Cancer, which is an amazing website. The Texas Lawbook Lawbook today made a $500 donation to Humor Beats Cancer. A link to the website is here.
To Olivia’s family and friends and colleagues at Kirkland, we offer our deepest condolences.
Here is Olivia’s testimonial:
In 2015, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. After undergoing chemotherapy, a mastectomy, radiation and several reconstruction surgeries I was considered cancer-free. When going through treatment, I learned the importance of finding little ways to experience joy and laughter. I also realized that being a cancer patient under age 40 brought unique perspective and challenges, but there weren’t a lot of avenues for this group to bond and share stories. That’s why this online community was created. In November 2021, I learned that my cancer had returned and I was now considered stage 4 because the breast cancer had come back in various organs. I am currently undergoing treatment while also working full-time and running Humor Beats Cancer.
My back story: My day job is as a public relations director for a global law firm where I handle media relations and communications for the lawyers I work with and for. I worked as a reporter and editor for 13 years and the best part of that profession was learning and sharing people’s stories. I learned nothing is black and white. We really operate in the gray and the best thing we can do is empathize with our neighbors.
After dealing with cancer the first time I realized I had not left a positive enough impact on people’s lives. I took my volunteering up to a new level and raised money and awareness through social media and communications for a school and food pantry on the South Side of Chicago. It fed my soul and I hopefully made a positive impact on this community. But I needed to create this nonprofit organization to give back and help bring all the different parts of me together — the journalist, communicator, volunteer and cancer survivor.
I hope you enjoy Humor Beats Cancer.