Mortimer Maxwell Caplin is an American lawyer and educator and the founding member of Caplin & Drysdale. 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. 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.