Jacob A. Stein, a quick-witted Washington lawyer who won the only major acquittal of a Watergate defendant, gained immunity for the former White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky to testify against President Bill Clinton and, as an independent counsel, cleared Edwin Meese 3d to become attorney general in 1984, died on April 3 at his home in Washington. He was 94.

The cause was multiple myeloma, his daughter, Julie Stein, said.

A rare second-generation Washington lawyer, Mr. Stein rose to become the unofficial dean of the District of Columbia bar. He seldom left a courtroom without earning the respect of his colleagues, the judge, the jury and even his client, the defendant, win or lose.

He successfully defended Senator Bob Packwood, Republican of Oregon, against criminal charges of influence peddling. (Mr. Packwood resigned in 1995 facing allegations of sexual misconduct.) But the senator said he would have been impressed with Mr. Stein’s legal advocacy regardless of the verdict.

“He’s the kind of lawyer that if you were indicted for murder, found guilty and hanged, you’d still think you had a good defense,” Mr. Packwood told The Washington Post in 1998.