John "Jack" Burnham Bates, a prominent San Francisco trial lawyer and a former president of the Commonwealth Club, died of pneumonia Monday at his home in Piedmont.

Mr. Bates, 86, was a lawyer at the firm Pillsbury Madison & Sutro for 40 years, serving as managing partner during the 1980s when the firm was the largest on the West Coast.

His clients included Chevron, Pacific Bell, BART, Pacific Lumber Co., Time-Life and the New York Times.

Colleagues recall a tall, handsome lawyer who tried cases with integrity and had a way with jurors.

"Jack was an example of how a trial lawyer ought to conduct himself," said Allan Littman who practiced law with him for 30 years.

Littman recalled that Mr. Bates managed the firm with the same sense of dignity and fairness, helping it expand during the chaotic 1980s, when law firms were trying to keep up with the corporate merger mania.

He took a leadership role in the community as well, serving as president of the Commonwealth Club in 1976, a founding trustee of KQED-TV and member of the Piedmont City Council during the 1950s.

"He was amazing," said Charles Renfrew, a former federal judge who knew Mr. Bates for 48 years. "He was able to communicate with anybody at any station of life."

He was born in Oakland and grew up in Piedmont. His father was a general contractor who built the University of California's Memorial Stadium in Berkeley.

He attended Stanford University, receiving his undergraduate degree in economics. During World War II he was commissioned as a supply officer in the U.S. Navy and served on the destroyer Farragut during the Aleutian, Gilbert and Marshall Island campaigns.

He received his law degree from Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law and immediately was hired at Pillsbury Madison & Sutro.

He was active in local Republican politics, but he also was close to the Kennedy family. In 1945, he and John Kennedy were members of the host committee for the formation of the United Nations in San Francisco. When Kennedy became president, Mr. Bates was asked to serve as assistant to Attorney General Robert Kennedy, an invitation he turned down because of his commitment to the firm.

In 1995, Herb Caen wrote that a staff member for Bob Dole asked Mr. Bates to host a dinner for the presidential candidate. "Hey, you're spinning your wheels," Mr. Bates responded. "I'm pro-choice and pro-gun control."

He was a fellow and later a regent of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He also was a director of Pacific Lumber and Hills Brothers Coffee Co. and a trustee of the Pacific Legal Foundation. He also was a member of the Pacific Union Club, San Francisco Golf Club, Bohemian Club, the Old Baldy Club, Cypress Point Club and the Claremont Country Club.

He loved the outdoors and enjoyed riding horses, golfing, skiing and duck hunting.

He often spent his spare time at his ranch in the Santa Cruz Mountains, raising cattle and growing Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.

"He had such a rich and full life," said his son, John Bates Jr. Even with his busy life, his son recalled, his father always put his family first and was especially devoted to his wife of 58 years, Nancy Witter Bates.

In addition to his son John and his wife, both of Piedmont, Mr. Bates is survived by his daughter, Katy Bates Kreitler of Pacific Palisades; his son Charlie Bates of Piedmont; and seven grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. at Piedmont Community Church, 400 Highland Ave. in Piedmont.

The family asks that donations be made to the Commonwealth Club of California, 595 Market St., 2nd floor, San Francisco, CA 94015, or to the California Waterfowl Association, 4630 Northgate Blvd., Suite 150, Sacramento, CA 95834.