Mortimer Caplin Leaves Legacy at IRS, Top D.C. Law Firm (1)

Mortimer Caplin, who helped shape the IRS and a major Washington, D.C. law firm, died July 15 at the age of 103.

Caplin was IRS commissioner under former President John F. Kennedy and later co-founded Caplin & Drysdale. As IRS chief, he worked to make the agency kinder and friendlier, according to an obituary from his alma mater, the University of Virginia.

Scott Michel, a member at Caplin & Drysdale who has been at the firm for nearly four decades, said that Caplin played a key role in the firm’s culture.

“Those of ...