CINCINNATI — Stan Chesley, who rose from humble roots in Avondale to become one of the nation’s most powerful class-action lawyers, died Sunday after a long battle with dementia. He was 89.

The son of Russian Jewish immigrants, Chesley worked three jobs to put himself through the University of Cincinnati law school, according to his daughter, Lauren Chesley.

“He worked tirelessly. He was a maniac. But he believed in what he was doing,” said the former TV anchor, one of two children born in Chesley’s first marriage. “He was charismatic and charming and he just got stuff done.”

Chesley rose to national prominence in 1977 by representing victims of the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire, in a case that led to national building code reforms and reshaped legal strategies for class-action lawsuit

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