The American Lawyer magazine dubbed Dilks and three other partners the “Gang of Four” for their efforts to put Morgan Lewis & Bockius on the map. It was Dilks who led a major part of that effort as founder and Chairman of the firm’s International Section for 25 years. Under his leadership the firm opened offices in London, Brussels, Frankfurt and Tokyo. Today Morgan Lewis employs 1,200 lawyers in 18 offices around the globe.

“Park was instrumental in the original decisions to open major, full service offices outside of Philadelphia, which transformed us from a run of the mill Philly firm to a national, and now international, firm,” said Francis Milone L’74, the present chairman of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.

A native Philadelphian, Dilks served as an Assistant District Attorney under Richardson Dilworth, who later became the mayor of Philadelphia, after graduating law school in 1951. After serving active duty as a first lieutenant in the Army, he returned to private practice, and in 1964, became a partner at Morgan Lewis. Dilks served as the firm’s chief financial officer for fifteen years, and as the firm’s chairman several times, beginning in 1975. He officially stepped down as senior partner in 1997 and became counsel to the firm.