The Passing of Prof. John Gaubatz

It is with great sadness that I report the recent death of Prof. John Gaubatz of the University of Miami School of Law.  As the UM website explains, Prof. Gaubatz

graduated in 1964 from Colorado State University with a B.S. in Physics and in 1967 from the University of Chicago Law School. After short stints in private practice and the United States Army, he joined the Case Western Reserve University Law School faculty in 1971. He was associate dean there from 1973 to 1976. Professor Gaubatz joined the Miami faculty in 1977 after a one-year visitorship. Since then he has directed both the graduate program on estate planning and the Philip E. Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning. His substantive teaching areas include trusts and estates, federal estate and gift taxation, estate planning, and employee benefits law. Before focusing his attention on casebooks, he wrote numerous articles on estates, trusts, taxation, taxation policy, and moot court.

His colleague, Prof. Patrick O. Gudridge, describes Prof. Gaubatz as:

a strong teacher in the classic socratic mold, a nationally recognized scholar in the field of trusts and estates, and (as chair of the admissions committee) a pioneer in the use of personal computers in law school administration. John was a vigorous proponent of moot courts as a law school teaching medium, writing an important book in support of his views. The law school’s moot court competition now bears his name — a fitting honor. We will remember John Gaubatz for his character, unquestioned integrity, intellectual honesty, and hard work — and also for the gifts of his friendship and humor.

Special thanks to Prof. Joel C. Dobris of the University of California-Davis for bringing Prof. Gaubatz’s death to my attention.