DEAN M. WEINER
Dean M. Weiner, a tax lawyer and teacher who contributed much to the municipal market world, died Thursday evening from a malignant brain tumor. He was 60.
"I worked for Dean for a number of years, 20 years, and he is an amazing lawyer and an amazing teacher, and I am saddened by this," said Travis Gibbs, a longtime friend and colleague of Mr. Weiner's, and partner at Nixon Peabody LLP. "Tax law will miss him, particularly those who worked in the municipal finance world."
Mr. Weiner was "of counsel" at O'Melveny & Myers LLP, which he joined in 1983. He also served as an adjunct professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles teaching tax policy.
Friends said his sense of humor and sunny disposition will be missed.
"Dean was the dean of 103 tax lawyers. He was well loved, well respected, well thought of. It's just a sad situation," said David A. Caprera, a partner at Kutak Rock LLP.
Mr. Weiner graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles and received his law degree from the University of the Pacific. He earned his master of laws degree from Harvard University.
He is survived by his wife Aviva, daughter Alia, and son Ivan.
In an e-mail message to Mr. Weiner's friends, Aviva Weiner said her husband died "peacefully and painlessly" in her arms.
In explaining his rationale for deciding to join O'Melveny in a 2005 story for the Tax Prof Blog, Mr. Weiner quipped: "I decided to work at O'Melveny because there were more attorneys with beards at O'Melveny than at the other firms I had talked to and they made me an offer. (I've had a beard since puberty, except during the military.)"
"Dean was one of those individuals that the municipal bond community universally recognized as a strong specialist in the tax area, and he always seemed to achieve a level of practice that others aspired to," said Carol L. Lew, partner at Stradling, Yocca, Carlson & Rauth who previously worked with Mr. Weiner at O'Melveny.
In his long career, Mr. Weiner also chaired of the American Bar Association's tax-exempt financing bond committee. Just last year, Weiner was the recipient of NABL's Bernard P. Friel Medal for distinguished service in public finance.
"He did much to influence tax policy. He tirelessly supported the American Bar Association and the National Association of Bond Lawyers on numerous comment projects to assist the industry," Lew said. "We're all going to miss Dean and his contributions to this area."
In 1998, Mr. Weiner lobbied the Internal Revenue Service to permit the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority to issue tax-exempt bonds for its mixed-use rail project. His pushing worked and the project received public funds.
Aviva Weiner asks that people who want to show support do not send flowers, but instead make a donation to a charity of their choice or one of Mr. Weiner's favorites, the Los Angeles Public Library or the Weingart Center Association, an organization aimed at breaking the cycle of homelessness.
