Mortimer Caplin

Mortimer Maxwell Caplin (born July 11, 1916) is an American lawyer and educator and the founding member of Caplin & Drysdale [1]. Born in New York City, he holds B.S. and LL.B degrees from University of Virginia and Doctor of Juridical Science from New York University.^[1]

First in his class at University of Virginia School of Law, and Editor-in-Chief of Virginia Law Review, Caplin served as a law clerk to U.S. Circuit Judge Armistead M. Dobie. He then practiced law in New York City from 1941 to 1950, with time out for military service in the United States Navy. During the invasion of Normandy he served as U.S. Navy beachmaster pdf file, cited as member of initial landing force on Omaha Beach and the recipient of the French Legion of Honor.

In 1950, Caplin returned to UVA as professor of law, specializing in tax and corporate law and publishing extensively in these fields. He also engaged in practice as counsel to a Virginia law firm.

Government experience

Following President John F. Kennedy's election, Caplin served on the President's Task Force on Taxation and in January 1961 was appointed U.S. Commissioner of Internal Revenue [2] [3]. During his tenure at the IRS, he appeared on the cover [4] of Time Magazine, which describes him as a "highly respected tax expert" and credits him for influencing President Kennedy's tax proposals [5]. While he was Commissioner, President Kennedy also visited the IRS - the first time a U.S. President had visited IRS headquarters (view video [6] on the Miller Center's Presidents and Tax Policy webpage). Caplin remained at the Internal Revenue Service until July 1964 when he resigned to form the law firm of Caplin & Drysdale. Upon his leave, The Washington Post published an article about Caplin's accomplishments as Commissioner, which included helping to tighten the administration of tax laws, building the IRS's public image and implementing a nationwide computer system centralized with a basic taxpayer master file.^[2]

In his law practice, Caplin uses his broad experience dealing with U.S. Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Justice Department, and the tax committees of the United States Congress. His area of expertise includes tax planning, dispute resolution, trials and appeals.

Professional activities

Caplin has served as Trustee of many educational and charitable organizations: UVA Board of Visitors; UVA Law School Foundation [7]; George Washington University [8]; University of the Virgin Islands; Peace Through Law Education Fund; Arena Stage; Shakespeare Theatre; Wolf Trap Foundation. He served for over ten years as Chair of the UVA Council for the Arts [9] and is now Honorary Chair. Caplin now serves on the following boards: Governing Council of UVA's Miller Center of Public Affairs [10]; Board of Directors, Environmental & Energy Study Institute [11]; and Chair, Board of Advisors of The Hospitality & Information Service for Diplomats ("THIS"), Washington, D.C. He is also on the board of directors of Danaher Corporation and Presidential Realty Corporation.

Awards and honors

Caplin's contributions have been recognized by numerous organizations over many years. Most recently, The University of Virginia presented him the Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr. Award from its National Advocacy Program as well as the Thomas Jefferson Medal in Law [12] [13], the university's highest honor.

He was also named "Chevalier" of the Légion d'honneur or Legion of Honor [14] by the President of the French Republic for his contributions to the United States' decisive role in the liberation of France during World War II. The Maryland General Assembly issued an official citation in recognition of his appointment as "Chevalier" of the Legion of Honor.

He also received the Medal of the Jubilee of Liberty, which was authorized by the Governor of the Normandy Region. On leaving the U.S. government, he received the Alexander Hamilton Award, the highest award conferred by the Secretary of the Treasury for his "distinguished leadership”.^[3]

He is also the recipient of the Achievement Award, Tax Society of New York University; Judge Learned Hand Human Relations Award, American Jewish Committee; Tax Executives Institute Distinguished Service Award; The Federal Bar Association's Kenneth S. Liles Award; The Miller Center of Public Affairs' Elizabeth Scott Award [15]; Veterans of Foreign Wars Public Service Award; Virginia State Bar and Award [16].

He was granted Professor Emeritus from the University of Virginia, after having served as Professor of Law (1950–1961) and Visiting Professor of Law (1965–1987). He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa at the University of Virginia. Caplin is listed in the 2010 edition of The Best Lawyers in America [17] in the specialty of Tax Law.

Also, the Miller Center of Public Affairs hosted a prominent economic conference called the Mortimer Caplin Conference on the World Economy on December 10–11, 2009 [18]. Since its inception in 2008, the conference brings together leading experts to examine crucial economic issues on the global stage pdf file.

Most recently, he was selected for the Veterans History Project, which preserves and presents personal accounts of American veterans in order to help future generations to better understand the realities of war. View Caplin's narrative: [19]

Caplin is married to screenwriter Ruth Sacks [20], whose film, "Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont," was released in 2005. The picture won "Best Film in Japan" in 2010. Recently, the Caplins donated $4 million to the University of Virginia to help build the Ruth Caplin Theatre, located inside the university's new $13.5 million drama building addition^[4] [21].

See also

United States Navy portal

• Virginia Tax Review Association

References

1. ^ A Man of Purpose: Professor, lawyer, soldier, scholar - Mort Caplin Makes It His Business to Serve, Washington Business Journal (August 15–21, 2003)
2. ^ The Tax Collector Goeth, The Washington Post (July 10, 1964)
3. ^ The Legacy of Mortimer Caplin '40, Virginia Law Weekly (February 4, 2000)
4. ^ "UVa to Break Ground on Arts Addition", (October 19, 2010)

External links

• D.C. Bar Legends in the Law
• Caplin & Drysdale
• UVA's Mortimer Caplin Public Service Center
• Images of Mortimer Caplin (Source: Life) [22]
• Lewis Gilbert, Still Timely [23]

Persondata
Name	Caplin, Mortimer M.
Alternative names	Caplin, Mort
Short description	Commissioner, Internal Revenue Service; prominent tax attorney; benefactor:University of Virginia
Date of birth	July 11, 1916
Place of birth	New York City, New York
Date of death
Place of death