William Schwartz.

William Schwartz, 84, a lawyer in the New York office of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, died Dec. 20. His practice focused on trusts and estates and business and family law.

“Bill Schwartz was a remarkable lawyer, teacher, mentor and, above all, a remarkable person,” said managing partner Pat Quinn. “He had an amazing legal mind and was revered by his colleagues, clients and students. Above all, Bill was an extremely gentle and humble person.”

Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Schwartz graduated first in his class from Boston University School of Law, completed post-graduate special legal studies at Harvard Law School and received a master's degree from Boston University and doctorates in humane letters from Hebrew College and Yeshiva University.

Immediately upon graduating from Boston University School of Law, he joined the faculty and eventually became dean. Schwartz's friend and former student, Samuel M. Feinman, dedicated the law school's library in honor of Schwartz and and his wife Bernice Schwartz.

William Schwartz was a director of Viacom Inc. and Viacom International Inc. He has also served as the general director of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America and as a member of the legal advisory committee of the New York Stock Exchange and a representative to the Office of Public Information of the United Nations. He is the author of 18 books and 65 scholarly articles.

He was a member of the New York State Bar Association, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the Massachusetts Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the American Law Institute and the American College of Probate Counsel.

Together with Bernice Schwartz, he endowed the Schwartz-Jacobs campus of the Rabbi Alexander S. Gross Hebrew Academy in Miami Beach, Florida.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by his two children, Alan Schwartz and Robin Jacobs (Dr. Baruch Jacobs), and four grandchildren.

His funeral was held Dec. 20 at the Fifth Avenue Synagogue, 5 East 62nd St. in Manhattan, followed by burial in the Old Montefiore Cemetery in Queens.