Philly Insider Arthur Makadon Dead at 70

The Inquirer (paywall) reports:

Arthur Makadon, 70, one of the most influential figures in Philadelphia’s legal and political realms for the past three decades, died Tuesday at University of Pennsylvania Hospital, his firm announced Wednesday morning.

Makadon, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, was a former chief assistant district attorney in Philadelphia under Arlen Specter. He would become one of Ed Rendell’s chief advisers as mayor and governor, first recommending his protege, David L. Cohen, to Rendell during is mayoral campaign. A 1996 Inquirer profile called him “an insider’s insider.”

Makadon chaired Ballard Spahr between 2002 and 2011 and was a partner at the time of his death. He was 70.

In 2005, PhillyMag ranked Makadon No. 31 in the list of 50 people who run this town, deftly outlining his influence in just a few sentences:

31. Arthur Makadon
chairman, Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll. Rank in 2000: 80
Friend to Rendell, Cohen, Specter and Street; head of the city’s most politically connected law firm; a go-to guy for dealmakers and those who want to make them. Makadon, 62, is also considered by many to be the one lawyer you’d want to hire if you got in trouble in Philadelphia. (Just ask the Mayor: Makadon’s repping him in the federal corruption probe.)
Strength: Far-reaching credibility that gives him rare access to insiders across the legal, political and business spectrums.
Weakness: Doesn’t suffer fools gladly. If he thinks you’re an idiot, he’ll say so, no matter who he offends.