Mlive:
Mr. (Bill) Halliday, 85, a former vice president of Amway Corp.,
died Wednesday after a lengthy illness. He continued to
practice law until last fall, said Murphy, his eldest
daughter."He was a brilliant man, a brilliant lawyer," she
recalled Wednesday from her home in Rochester Hills.She said she and her siblings often had talks with their
father about the law and about interesting cases he was
working on.Mr. Halliday was born in 1921 in Royal Oak. He graduated
from the University of Michigan law school and remained a
"very proud Wolverine" throughout his life, Murphy
said.He and his wife, Lois, met at college. The couple moved to
Grand Rapids, Lois’ hometown, after they married in
1947.Mr. Halliday began his law career as a Kent County assistant
prosecutor. After serving 17 months in the Korean War, he
returned to Grand Rapids and was hired by the Smith, Schmidt
and Howlett law firm as an associate. He later became a
partner at the firm.He took a job in 1966 with Amway, drawing up the
company’s articles of incorporation and working as a
secretary and general counsel. He was appointed vice
president of Amway Corp. in 1969, staying at the company
until 1984.Among his most famous cases was his defense of Amway against
charges from the Canadian government that the company had
evaded customs duties. Amway eventually pleaded guilty to
the charges in 1983 and paid the Canadian government $38
million in fines in 1989.
