It is with deep sadness that KMTG mourns the passing of retired shareholder and firm co-founder, Stanley W. Kronick, who died at his Sacramento home on August 4, 2013. He was 93.
Mr. Kronick was instrumental in the firm’s water and litigation practices.
Mr. Kronick was an active participant in the post-war development of California water resources at the Regional Counsel’s Office of the Bureau of Reclamation. While at the Bureau, he met friend and future firm co-founder Adolph Moskovitz when they shared an office as staff attorneys in the 1950s. During this time, Mr. Kronick and Mr. Moskovitz formulated a water allocation plan that changed California water policy and became the basis for water and hydroelectric projects implemented by the Brown Administration in the 1960s.
Mr. Kronick helped draft the legislation that created the Kern County Water Agency, California’s largest. He was instrumental in developing major dams, reservoirs and canals for the State Water Project. He also played a key role in the successful bond election that led to construction of the Placer County Water Agency’s Middle Fork American River Project.
The complexity of legal and governance issues related to water led the firm he established into other areas of public agency law. Mr. Kronick was the leading proponent of the firm’s diversification into a broad range of legal services.
“When I joined the firm in 1972, it had five partners and three associates,” said Lloyd Hinkelman, a former firm shareholder. “Stanley felt we should become a full-service firm.” Today, the firm has a diversified civil law practice that represents a mix of private business and public sector clients throughout the state.
Stanley William Kronick was born on Sept. 18, 1919, in Pittsfield, Mass. He left his studies at Boston University to join the Marine Corps during World War II, flew B-25s in the South Pacific and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He returned to school and earned a law degree from Columbia University in 1947.
Mr. Kronick retired from the firm in 1994. He is survived by his children, Louise Mueller of Sacramento and Rob of Bakersfield; brother, Russell of Sacramento; and two grandchildren.