Alan Roberts McFarland

Background

Alan Roberts McFarland was born on October 4, 1942, in Washington, District of Columbia, to Alan Roberts McFarland and Elizabeth Mathieu McFarland. His family background connected him with the northeastern and mid-Atlantic professional milieu in which his later legal and financial career developed.

McFarland's early adulthood coincided with the expansion of American higher education, large corporate finance, and the professionalization of investment banking after the Second World War. He pursued both liberal-arts and legal education at Yale before beginning his career in federal judicial service and law practice.

Education

McFarland received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University in 1964 and a Bachelor of Laws degree from Yale Law School in 1967. Yale, founded in 1701, was one of the leading American research universities of the period, while its law school formed part of the country's established tradition of legal education and public-law scholarship.

During his Yale Law School years, McFarland contributed to the Yale Law Journal. His student writing focused on labor law and the National Labor Relations Board, subjects that connected legal scholarship with the changing framework of postwar American industrial relations.

Career

McFarland began his professional career as a law clerk with the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia from 1967 to 1968. The federal appellate courts interpret federal law and review decisions from lower courts and administrative agencies; his clerkship preceded his entry into private legal practice.

From 1968 to 1969, he was an associate at Drinker Biddle & Reath in Philadelphia. He then moved into investment banking, serving as vice president of Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette from 1969 to 1973 and managing director of Lehman Brothers from 1973 to 1978. These firms were prominent participants in the development of modern American securities underwriting, corporate finance, and institutional investment.

McFarland became a general partner of Lazard Frères & Company in New York City in 1978 and remained with the firm through 1989. Lazard's advisory and investment-banking business was historically associated with mergers, acquisitions, corporate finance, and strategic advice to major companies.

From 1989, McFarland was a general partner of McFarland Dewey & Company, an investment-banking and financial-advisory firm. Later corporate filings identified him as the firm's managing member and connected him with advice involving corporate finance and strategic transactions. He also served as a director of Placer Dome Inc., the Foxboro Company, and Premdor Inc., and was identified in corporate materials as a director or trustee of additional civic and corporate organizations.

Achievements

• McFarland developed a long career in investment banking after beginning in federal appellate clerkship and private legal practice, holding senior positions at Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette, Lehman Brothers, Lazard Frères, and McFarland Dewey & Company.

• He contributed to legal analysis of union authorization cards and National Labor Relations Board procedures through student writing in the Yale Law Journal and later co-authorship of a study published by the University of Pennsylvania's Industrial Research Unit.

Works

• article

  • Union Authorization Cards

    (A Yale Law Journal note examining the legal status and ev...)

    1966
  • Merchant and Consumer Protection: The Uniform Commercial Code

    (A Yale Law Journal contribution addressing legal protecti...)

    1967
  • The British Legal Aid System

    (A Yale Law Journal contribution on the structure and oper...)

    1966

• book

  • Union Authorization Cards and the NLRB: A Study of Congressional Intent, Administrative Policy, and Judicial Review

    (Co-authored with Wayne S. Bishop, this study examines the...)

    1969

Religion

McFarland was an Episcopalian, belonging to the Anglican tradition within Christianity. The Episcopal Church developed in the United States from the Church of England tradition and combines worship centered on the Book of Common Prayer with an episcopal structure of bishops, dioceses, and congregations.

Episcopalian religious life is generally associated with sacramental worship, engagement with scripture and Christian tradition, and service through congregational and civic institutions. McFarland's documented religious affiliation places him within this historic American Protestant tradition.

Politics

McFarland was affiliated with the Republican Party. The party is one of the two major political parties in the United States and has historically included commitments to constitutional government, private enterprise, national defense, and fiscal restraint, alongside changing internal currents on social and economic policy.

His professional career developed during the postwar period, when the Republican Party included both conservative and moderate traditions. His documented affiliation identifies his political association but does not by itself establish particular positions on individual policies or candidates.

Membership

McFarland's civic and professional participation included trusteeship of the Children's Aid Society in New York City from 1978 and service on the board of the World Resources Institute in Washington from 1980 to 1994. He was also associated with St. Andrew's Dune Church in Southampton, New York, and served as a trustee of the National Constitution Center.

The Children's Aid Society works with children and families through social-service and educational programs, while the World Resources Institute is a research organization focused on environmental sustainability and resource policy. The National Constitution Center is an educational institution devoted to the history and principles of the United States Constitution.

• Trustee

  Children's Aid Society of New York , United States

  1978 - present

• Board member

  World Resources Institute , United States

  1980 - 1994

• Trustee

  St. Andrew's Dune Church , United States

• Trustee

  National Constitution Center , United States

Interests

• Sport & Clubs

  Golf and tennis

Connections

McFarland married Ellen Michel on August 6, 1966; their marriage ended in divorce in 1984. They had two children, Andrew Roberts McFarland and Gavin Richards McFarland.

He married Kathleen Troia on January 12, 1985. They had three children, Fiona Fuller McFarland, Lucas Haskell Sawyer McFarland, and Camilla Collins McFarland. Kathleen Troia later became known publicly as K. T. McFarland and pursued a career in public policy, national security, and political commentary.

Father:

Alan Roberts McFarland

Mother:

Elizabeth Mathieu McFarland

child:

Camilla Collins McFarland

child:

Lucas Haskell Sawyer McFarland

child:

Gavin Richards McFarland

child:

Fiona Fuller McFarland

child:

Andrew Roberts McFarland

Wife:

Kathleen Troia

She became known publicly as K. T. McFarland and worked in public policy, national security, and political commentary.

Wife:

Ellen Michel

References

• United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Placer Dome proxy statement Documents McFarland's service on the Placer Dome board, his education at Yale College and Yale Law School, his role as managing member of McFarland Dewey & Co., and his trusteeship of the National Constitution Center.
  2005
• United States Securities and Exchange Commission, McFarland Dewey Securities Co. annual report Identifies Alan Roberts McFarland as the contact for McFarland Dewey Securities Co., LLC and gives the firm's New York address.
  2012
• Penn Charter Class of 1960 profile Provides biographical information about McFarland's education, family, civic trusteeships, corporate directorships, interests, and career as an investment banker.
• Yale Law Journal, volume 75, number 8 Documents McFarland's participation in the Yale Law Journal and his student legal scholarship.
  1966
• Yale Law Journal, volume 76, number 2 Documents McFarland's participation in the Yale Law Journal during his law-school years.
  1966