Lawyer leaves a legacy in longevity

Last month, hoping to draw as much attention as the day he walked in, Bill Evans walked out of the Utah Attorney General's Office for the last time.

His hope for no big fuss, however, was not realized.

Stay 40 years in the same place, and they tend to notice when you clear off your desk.

Amid wishes of bon voyage from corners near and far, Evans' departure not only left a void in the attorney general's office but at the same time established a longevity target the rest of the state government's attorneys can now shoot at — exactly 40 years of continuous service.

Nobody before him had the chance to work that long in the attorney general's office for the simple fact that before Evans signed on as a law clerk for newly elected Vern Romney in June 1969, career state lawyers did not exist.

Whenever a new attorney general was elected, the entire staff of the outgoing office-holder, much like a college football staff when the head coach is fired, vacated the premises.

But Romney lobbied a statute through the state Legislature that ended cronyism in the attorney general's office. After that, when an attorney general left, the staff stayed on.

"It's a good statute. It allows attorneys to give good advice and do what they have to do to do their job regardless of political affiliation," says Evans, who is also quick to add, "and it kept me employed for my life."

He was 25 when he started, 65 when he left. And he didn't leave because he was sick and tired of the job and counting down the days, but because The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints called him to serve a mission in Boston.

"Otherwise I would have stayed on longer," he says. "I can't think of anything I would have done these last 40 years that would have seemed more important or I would have enjoyed any more."

His uncommon staying power in a profession that wears contention and competition like a badge of honor might have had something to do with his studied avoidance of anything contentious or competitive.

Nobody told lawyer jokes about Bill Evans.

"He was the most gentle, kind and compassionate soul," remembers Jan Graham, who made Evans her chief of staff in 2000 during the final year of her eight-year term as attorney general. "The sound of his voice could calm the winds."

In all, Evans worked under six attorneys general. Two, Graham and Paul Van Dam, were Democrats. Four, Romney, Robert B. Hansen, David L. Wilkinson and current Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, were Republicans.

You guessed it: He got along with all of them.

"It's been an interesting study in human nature to work under those different people," says Evans. "I think when a person runs for A.G. and wins, by definition they're substantive people, with drive and initiative."