Mortimer Caplin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mortimer Caplin, lawyer and educator, is the founding member of Caplin & Drysdale. He holds B.S. and LL.B degrees from University of Virginia, and Doctor of Juridical Science degree from New York University.
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 Normandy invasion he served as U.S. Navy beachmaster pdf file, cited as member of initial landing force on Omaha Beach.
In 1950, Caplin returned to UVA as professor of law, specializing in tax and corporate law and publishing extensively in these fields. 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].
In a book review, John Berlau of Insight magazine states that author John A. Andrew, III has detailed an activity of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) called the "Ideological Organizations Project" during the administration of President Kennedy and Caplin's tenure as head of the agency. Berlau reports that Andrew "presents new evidence for what he [Andrew] calls 'the utilization of the Internal Revenue Service in what became a covert effort to discredit the right and undercut its sources of support' as part of 'a broad assault on the right wing by the Kennedy administration.'"[1] In the book review, Berlau also states that Caplin maintains that the IRS during Caplin's tenure "was 'whistle-clean' in these matters and that [President] Kennedy was 'hands-off.'" Berlau also reports that Andrew quoted Caplin as saying: "I really think it [the IRS] was a very clean operation, which became much different during the Nixon years."[2]
Caplin remained at the Internal Revenue Service until July 1964 when he resigned to form the law firm of Caplin & Drysdale.
Caplin has served as Trustee of many educational and charitable organizations: UVA Board of Visitors; UVA Law School Foundation[4]; George Washington University[5]; Board of Overseers, 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, UVA Council for the Arts[6] and was recently named Honorary Chair. Caplin now serves on the Governing Council of UVA's Miller Center of Public Affairs[7]; board of directors, Environmental & Energy Study Institute[8]; Chair, Board of Advisors of the Hospitality & Information Service, Washington, D.C. He is also on the board of directors of Danaher Corporation and Presidential Realty Corporation.
Caplin's contributions have been recognized by numerous organizations over many years. Most recently he was presented with the Thomas Jefferson Medal in Law[9][10], University of Virginia's highest honor. Caplin was the founder of the Public Service Center of the University of Virginia School of Law in 1998. In 2007, the Center received the Virginia State Bar Lewis F. Powell Pro Bono Award.
Caplin is married to screenwriter Ruth Sacks[11], whose film, "Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont," was released in 2005.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| 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, New York, New York |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New York, New York |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
