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2020 SESSION

20108426D
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 416
Offered March 2, 2020
Celebrating the life of Mortimer Caplin.
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Patrons-- Hudson; Senator: Deeds
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WHEREAS, Mortimer Caplin, a graduate, law school alumnus, and professor of the University of Virginia; an honorable veteran; and a longtime attorney, philanthropist, and civil servant, died on July 15, 2019, at the age of 103; and

WHEREAS, Mortimer Caplin graduated from the University of Virginia in 1937 at the top of his class with a National Collegiate Athletic Association middleweight boxing title and degrees in economics and political science; and

WHEREAS, graduating from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1940, where he was editor-in-chief of the Virginia Law Review, Mortimer Caplin subsequently taught at the university for 33 years; and

WHEREAS, Mortimer Caplin enlisted in the United States Navy during World War II and oversaw Allied landings at Omaha Beach in France as a beachmaster; and

WHEREAS, from 1961 through 1964, under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, Mortimer Caplin served as Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, where he championed reform and introduced a centralized computer system to audit returns quickly and equitably; and

WHEREAS, in 1964, Mortimer Caplin was a founding member of the influential law firm Caplin & Drysdale in Washington, D.C., benefiting countless clients as one of the nation’s leading tax attorneys; and

WHEREAS, in 2001, the University of Virginia School of Law awarded Mortimer Caplin its highest honor, the Thomas Jefferson Medal in Law, in recognition of his many years of service to the school; and

WHEREAS, furthermore, the University of Virginia School of Law created the Mortimer Caplin Public Service Award in his honor, presented annually to a student that demonstrates the qualities of leadership, integrity, and service that Mortimer Caplin embodied; and

WHEREAS, Mortimer Caplin was a board member and fellow of the American Bar Foundation, an honorary society of lawyers, judges, and law professionals whose public and private careers have demonstrated outstanding dedication to the highest principles of the legal profession and to the welfare of their communities; and

WHEREAS, preceded in death by his wife, Ruth, and his daughter, Mary Ellen, Mortimer Caplin will be fondly remembered and dearly missed by his children, Lee, Michael, Jeremy, and Cate, and their families, as well as numerous other family members, friends, and people touched by his life of service; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of Mortimer Caplin, distinguished attorney, former head of the Internal Revenue Service, and longtime benefactor of the University of Virginia; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Mortimer Caplin as an expression of the General Assembly's respect for his memory.