Brian Eric 'Rick' Appel, 74, former assistant D.A.

ARLEN SPECTER appreciated Rick Appel for more than his skills as a prosecutor in the District Attorney's Office.

Specter, Philadelphia D.A. from 1966 to 1974, once said that Rick brought the "milk of human kindness" to the office.

"He considered him a real kind gentleman," said Rick's sister, Vivian M. Appel. "He brought a softening to the district attorney's image."

Specter, who went on to serve in the U.S. Senate, died in 2012.

Rick was the kind of prosecutor, defense lawyer and teacher widely admired for his devotion to the profession, his teaching skills and an irrepressible sense of humor that could leaven the most dire of situations.

Brian Eric Appel, in addition to being a highly regarded Philadelphia lawyer, was a legal scholar and teacher, instructing students from Philadelphia to Harvard to China during a 40-year career. He also was a singer and musician who performed in local choruses and theater groups.

"Rick," as he was known to family and friends, died Sunday of esophageal cancer. He was 74 and lived in Elkins Park.

He was a son of David H. Appel, former features and book editor of the Inquirer and author of several children's books, who died in 1984.

Besides working in the District Attorney's Office, Rick served as first deputy solicitor for Philadelphia from 1986 to 1988, and was Narberth borough solicitor from 2002 to 2009.

Rick was nationally known as a teacher of trial-advocacy skills, and sometimes would use theatrical dramatizations to illustrate effective courtroom tactics.

In addition to his alma mater, Temple University, Rick taught at Rutgers University, the University of Richmond and Harvard University.

Last year, he traveled to China to teach at a law school in Beijing as part of a Temple University partnership with the Chinese school.

Rick created courses for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy, the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and other organizations devoted to legal education.

He was born in Cleveland to David H. and Margaret Appel. His father was a reporter in Cleveland and later book editor of the Chicago Daily News before joining the Inquirer in 1946 for a 25-year career.

Rick graduated from Central Bucks High School and went on to Swarthmore College, graduating in 1962. He graduated in 1966 from what is now the Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law.

He began his career as clerk to the late Common Pleas Judge Robert N.C. Nix Jr. - who later became chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court - then joined the Defender Association of Philadelphia.

After serving as assistant D.A. under Specter, Rick joined in establishing the law firm of Segal, Appel & Natali with Bernard Segal, who was famous for defending Jeffrey MacDonald, the Green Beret officer convicted of killing his wife and two children in 1970; and Louis Natali, a Temple law professor.

The firm specialized in civil-liberties cases. In 1975, Rick turned his skills to the practice of business and tort litigation.

As a musician, Rick lent his tenor to a number of choruses in the area, and played musical instruments, starting with the sousaphone, a tuba-like instrument named after John Philip Sousa, whom Rick admired. He also played the piano and the French horn.

Rick was instrumental in the creation of the Pennsylvania Ballet, and helped it with management and legal work.

He married the former Diana Dooley, a social worker, in 1983.

Whatever Rick was doing, humor was a big part of his personality. "You could see the twinkle in his eye when he thought of something funny to add to the conversation," his sister said.

In his final illness in Abington Memorial Hospital, family members sang songs, from old folk music to Sondheim, as Rick was confined to the intensive-care unit.

"He couldn't sing with us, but he was directing us," his sister said. "We thought they'd throw us out of the ICU."

Besides his wife and sister, he is survived by a daughter, Molly Appel; a son, Benjamin Appel; and another sister, Carol Barnes.

Services: Graveside services 11:30 a.m. today at Roosevelt Memorial Park, Langhorne.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Swarthmore College, 500 College Ave., Swarthmore PA 19081.